Olympians to Students
by miyame-chan
Summary: The twin gods are sent to the mortal world and are supposed to act like your average teenage students until they learn to cooperate with each other. But will they be able to survive under the pressures of being a mortal student?
1. Punished

Hey! Enjoy!

Sadly, I do not own PJO. But I do own my OCs. :):

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><p>Punished<p>

_"Speak when you are angry—and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret." -Dr. Laurence J. Peter _

**THIRD PERSON'S POV**

"Apollo!" Artemis exclaimed, forcing everyone in the Throne Room to divert their attention to her as she entered. "How many times do I have to tell you to _stop_ flirting with my hunters? It's like everything I say always passes through your ears!"

"Hey, sis, you're back!"

_"Apollo!"_

"What? Yeah, I hit on them but they don't fall in love with me, right? They have that oath to follow."

"Even with that oath, I can't have temptation anywhere near them!"

"Ouch. It sucks to be them at the moment," Apollo muttered, staring at his twin curiously. "You lack faith in them, sis?"

The face of Artemis went red. "I—No, of course not," she sputtered out. Apollo raised an eyebrow at her skeptically. Everyone knew how it was a touchy subject to talk about her Hunters being successfully seduced by other gods. It happened quite a few times and Artemis hadn't handled it well. "I am confident of their loyalty! But what bothers me is your constant flirting with them. It's almost like an annoying habit... and it's getting out of hand. Do you know how many of my Hunters complained to me just this last week? We've been over this hundreds of times!"

Apollo huffed. He couldn't imagine anyone complaining about him. (Except maybe Artemis, Hera, and quite a few others.) "Fine, I'll stop," he said after much debate. "Although no promises guaranteed, little sister. Habits are hard to stop after all!" He added with a cheeky grin. "Now if you excuse me I am trying to finish my beautiful poetry." With a dramatic snap of his fingers, a fountain pen and parchment paper popped out and landed on his lap.

Artemis sighed exasperatedly. "I always tell you stop trifling with my Hunters, to stop calling me 'little sis,' and a lot of others things... Yet you never listen, do you?"

"Pardon?" Apollo asked, looking up from his poem.

Artemis's hand twitched. "That is it!" She marched up to her twin and ripped the parchment from his hands. Apollo gasped dramatically at the sight of the tear.

The Olympians watched in interest, with some wishing they had popcorn—ehem, Ares, ehem— to make the experience more enjoyable.

"What—Why...?" The usual chatterbox of a god couldn't get his voice to function properly. "Y-You..." He was working so hard on that piece of poetry, only for it to be ripped by his _own _sister's hands. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF BLOODY ZEUS DID YOU DO?" He finally screeched.

Hestia's eyebrows flew up. She rarely saw the god like this. The last time he was so angry was when Hermes stole his sacred cows.

"Bloody?" Zeus inquired.

"I..." Artemis's voice faltered, slowly coming to her senses. "I-I'm so sorry, Apollo. Look! The rip isn't even that—"

"Then why did you do it?" He demanded, standing up. "You could've just... Have you been even thinking?"

"Because you wouldn't listen to me! You never do!"

"You could've just told me!"

"See what I mean?"

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind! You won't understand, anyways."

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"I am not! I—"

"Wait, stop!" Apollo raised a hand. "I have the perfect haiku for this moment." Despite the grumbling of complaints by his fellow Olympians, he cleared his throat and began:

_"Artemis is mean_

_She ripped my dear poetry,_

_Now she ripped my heart."_

Artemis cocked her head, unsure of what to say. "Well, here I was thinking you'd be adding another syllable to the last line. At least you stuck to the rules this time, Apollo. It's still not one of your best, though."

Apollo narrowed his eyes, trying to decipher the meaning behind his sister's words. It was obvious she wasn't praising him, but she probably wasn't insulting him either. "What are you trying to say, _sister_? Why, do you think you can make a haiku? Actually, now that I think about it, all you ever do is make fun of my works"—he made sure to make eye contact with everyone in the room, hoping they'd get the message he wasn't only addressing Artemis—"but you never bother to give me an example of yours. Do you have a haiku in mind, Arty? It would be nice to hear it!"

Artemis thought hard, surprised by Apollo's reaction. His change of attitude did irk her a little. Maybe he thought she couldn't form a haiku? "If you insist," she replied slowly, the poem already forming in her head.

"Well then, let's hear it,"

Imitating Apollo's moves from earlier, she cleared her throat and faced the other gods present, spreading her arms in a dramatic gesture.

_"Powerful, yes_

_But quite a pain in the butt_

_Apollo, you dope."_

Most of the Olympians snickered. Artemis took a triumphant bow and smiled at the deep red Apollo.

He coughed, waiting for a few seconds for the laughter to die down (and for his face to return to its normal color). "Correct me if I'm wrong, sis, but isn't the first line four syllables? Just so you know a haiku is a five-seven-five." He finished with a little glare, slightly jealous that her haiku was received well compared to his. _Everyone's a critique,_ he thought bitterly. _I swear, it's like they won't even recognize a good haiku even if it slaps them in their godly arses. _"You may be a skilled huntress, but you're not a good poet, huh? You can't have it all, sis."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing," she hissed.

"Really? Were you also thinking how whiny you are and how you always think you're the best? I mean, that's probably why some hunters left you!"

"Excuse me! _You _also think you're the best! And the reason they left me was because of idiotic, flirty men!" Artemis cried.

"Isn't that what you call them disrespecting you and your oath?" Apollo shot back smugly.

_Oh, now he's done it, _Athena sighed. This argument was giving her a complete headache. Both of them were acting so childish! Although their argument was becoming dragging, they had to be commended. It seemed like they weren't intent on backing down; it was a battle of wills. She glanced at Hera and Zeus, the former leaning towards her husband and whispering intently. _Only the other gods would probably mean the end of their fight._

"How dare you—"

Seeing that Artemis was too flustered to speak, he continued. "And admit it, you can be irrational. I guess there's a reason why _I'm_ the god of intelligence and not _you_."

"Me, irrational?" Artemis scoffed, like _Are you serious? _

"Aren't you? Don't tell me you've already forgotten what you did to those poor ex-huntresses of yours. Aura, for example—"

"Don't you dare mention that girl's name in front of me," Artemis growled. It was obvious that Artemis was restraining herself from throttling her brother. She took a few steps backward and laced her fingers behind her back, gritting her teeth.

"Feeling guilty about it?" Apollo taunted.

Artemis swallowed, narrowing her eyes into dangerous slits. "How about you? Don't you have stories to tell too? You're not innocent from successfully seducing some of my hunters, like Kyrene."

"Hey, I named an island after her!"

_"ENOUGH!"_

**APOLLO'S POV**

I'm not scared of lots of things. And Zeus, I'm not scared of him either. I'm used seeing the old man go cranky. In fact, I've seen worse than this. Like way, way worse. But for some reason, my godly instincts told me something was going to happen—something I will not like.

"I am sick of the both of you fighting amongst each other! Can't the two of you get along for once?" He demanded.

I discreetly rolled my eyes and sat back down on my throne, trying to get comfortable for another lecture that was sure to come. _You guys never get along too. _I heard a clicking sound and I saw Athena doing that disapproving thing with her tongue, the way most parents did when they see their kid messing up the carpet. She gave me a frown, shaking her head. The frown was most likely for my attitude but the head shaking told me that she was thinking the same thing as me.

"But obviously, the only time that happened was when you killed Niobe's children." I shrugged. "So I think, maybe, we should do something to you two." He paused, pretending to think. "Something like, say, a punishment. Who agrees?"

The others glanced at each other. Slowly, one by one, they all raised their hands.

I hastily stood up at the sight of it, especially when Hermes raised his. "Traitor!" _What in the flipping Hades? Is everybody against us or something? _

"Sorry," he mouthed.

"Y-You can't just—"

"The council has decided that we shall punish you for you and your sister's actions and arguments."

"We're part of this council too, you know?" I tried lamely.

"Sorry, this decision doesn't have to include you two." Hera said coldly.

"But what about all of you! You also argue a lot!" Artemis pointed out. It was a vain attempt, but I was tempted to applaud her for trying. She turned to our father. "Lord Zeus, didn't you almost cause a war when you thought that Poseidon's son, Perseus Jackson, stole your lightning bolt?"

Zeus turned a nice shade of pink. "That is a different matter, Artemis! The both of you have been arguing for centuries!" He boomed.

"So have you," Artemis whispered.

"So, Zeus, what punishment do you have in mind?" Hera asked excitedly. Oh, she just can't wait to get rid of us.

"Hmm..." Zeus started, stroking his beard. "I don't have anything in mind... yet. Perhaps the others have some suggestions?"

"Burn them at the stake!"

"They'll just come back to life, Ares," Hephaestus reminded, sighing.

"Then just keep doing it. Trust me, it'll be entertaining,"

"We could always force them to harvest the wheat needed for cereal," Demeter suggested. "Cereal supply has dropped low."

"Maybe because you're always buying for yourself," Aphrodite quipped.

Athena raised her hand. "Send them to the mortal world until the summer solstice starts?"

"Boring," Ares coughed.

"Ah, I'm not finished yet, Ares," Athena smirked then continued. "We could always send them to school. Everyone knows how mortals consider it as a form of torture—unfortunately."

"Military school?" Ares asked, his eyes wide in interest.

Hermes snorted, clamping his hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter. I shot him another ice-cold glare and he quieted down.

"Military school?_ Seriously?_" I protested. Artemis, on the other hand, was quiet. I guess she was trying to come up with a persuasive argument or maybe she already accepted our fate.

"You scared of military school? Ha, wimp!" Ares burst out laughing and I had the urge to punch him.

"You're the god of war, Ares! Of course you're going to find military school easy."

"Don't you think that idea is a tad bit... harsh?" Hestia asked, knitting her eyebrows worriedly. I flashed her a grateful smile. Leave it to Hestia to be the more compassionate one. "Wouldn't it be better if we send them to middle school instead?" Okay, never mind what I said.

"Sure, punish us, but not with school!"

Athena gave us a cold stare before turning to Ares, annoyed. "That is exactly what I was supposed to suggest, if only Ares had let me continue."

Hera laughed in pleasure. "This is an absolutely brilliant idea! If they act as children, why not treat them as such? Yes, yes, send them to middle school. A military middle school, for all I care!"

"Lord Zeus, are you... you are not going to agree to this, am I right?"

"Just be thankful we won't be sending you two to an elementary school!"

"Actually, it is a pretty good idea," Zeus said thoughtfully. "Do all of you—except for the twins—agree?"

Everyone nodded their heads.

"Well, the council has made a decision. The both of you will live as mortals for the time being and attend a mortal school. The council is now dismissed." Artemis and I stayed put. Zeus raised an eyebrow. "I said the council is dismissed."

"We'll be back!" I insisted. "We shall return to—"

"Apollo, please," Artemis sighed, dragging me out by the arm. "Please keep quiet for once. This is your entire fault. Now I have to break the news to my Hunters!"

"My fault? How is this my fault?!"

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><p>Pls. review!<p>

Yes, I know that Artemis and Apollo's fight was kind of useless. But if you don't like it or this story, fine. At least I'm happy with this.


	2. Breaking the News

2nd chapter- enjoy!

I'd like to thank the following people who reviewed my story: **OfMusicandMayhem, alfread, Artemis the Moon Maiden, Kheilynn, Erin Hunters 4 Ever, **and** Izzy-Daystar. **Stay loving and keep on reading!

Tnx for the Favorites and Alerts! :3

I'm so sorry I wasn't able to update soon! I was updating other stories but then the computer I was using in the States broke and I recently arrived back home! Though, I may not be able to update soon. School's about to start this Monday, but I'll try my best to do so...

Sadly, I do not own PJO. But I do own my OCs. :):

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><p>Breaking the News<p>

**THALIA'S POV**

"Phoebe, heard anything from Lady Artemis lately?" I asked my fellow Hunter. Phoebe shook her head no.

I sighed and walked away dejectedly. It's been days since Artemis left for Olympus. She hasn't given us any message on what was happening there. We've tried contacting her, but she wouldn't reply to our Iris Messages.

Speaking of which, I needed to try and contact her again. Who knows, she might answer this time. Facing the sun, I took out a drachma and a spray bottle and sprayed water into the air, creating a mini rainbow. "Lady Art—"

_"THALIA!"_

"What in the name of Zeus?" I spun around and saw the young Kylie McClain running towards me. "K—"

"THALIA! THALIA, THALIA, THALIA! THALIAAAAAAA!" Kylie, without even realizing she was near me, barreled into me.

"OW!" We said in unison as we stumbled down.

Kylie quickly detached herself from me, screaming, "OMIGODS! ARE YOU OKAY? THALIA, I AM SO SORRY! PLEASE, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

"K-Kylie, don't worry," I said, shaking the leaves and dirt from my legs. "I'm okay and I forgive you. So could you please stop screaming and tell me what's going on?" I asked, placing a firm hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

Kylie took a deep breath and panted, "Its Lady Artemis—she's back."

"Really?" A smile spread across my lips as I dragged the young Hunter back to the campsite.

"Though, Lord Apollo is with her. It looks like both of them have an announcement to make."

Now, I had to frown at that. During my time as a huntress, I've learned to get used to Apollo randomly popping up every now and then. Still, Artemis willingly allowing him to come with her? Unheard of.

As we approached the campsite, I caught sight of a small crowd gathering around the two deities, bombarding them with questions.

"Thank you for being worried, but I am alright. Nothing... major really happened," I heard the goddess say.

"Yeah, I'm okay too. Don't worry," her brother butted in. No one paid attention to him, which made him frown slightly.

"Lady Artemis! You haven't been replying to our IMs. Why?" Kylie demanded, pulling out of my grasp.

"I'm sorry, Kylie, if I worried you by not responding. I was just... busy with some other concerns," Artemis explained, looking a little uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"Um... Ah..." Artemis started to shift uncomfortably.

The Hunters and I exchanged glances. None of have ever seen her like this. What was going on? We stared at Apollo next, wondering if he had a clue. He looked embarrassed.

"Lady Artemis... is there something we should know about?" I inquired.

"Uh," she bit her lip and hesitantly whispered, "Fe got bubble."

"Fe got a bubble? Who's Fe? A new recruit?" Kylie wondered, searching the crowd for the new girl.

"What, no! We got into trouble!"

We didn't need to ask what happened: another argument between the twins that tested the patience of the other Olympians.

"It was all Arty's fault!" Apollo added, pointing at his sister.

One of our drama queen Hunters gasped and pretended to faint. Her friend caught her. "What do you mean it was her fault?" The drama queen, Joyce Andrews, demanded after "regaining consciousness."

"She started it." Apollo crossed his arms and pouted like a kid.

"I. Did. Not." Artemis said, obviously trying to control her anger.

"Yes. It. Is. Al-so. Your. Fault. We. Got. Sent. To. School." Apollo replied. "Wait, why are we talking like this?"

Artemis muttered under her breath, "Idiot."

"W-Wait! What do you mean by school?" Phoebe demanded, her eyes darting back and forth to the twins.

"The Olympians got tired of us arguing that they decided to punish us by sending us to a mortal school," Artemis explained, looking uncharacteristically ashamed. I wouldn't blame her, though. I mean, who has heard of two powerful gods being sent to a _mortal school _as _punishment_? It was an odd choice.

"Speak for themselves. They should be punished too," I muttered. Thunder rolled. "It's the truth!" I shouted, glaring up at the heavens.

"And what's more, they'll remove our godliness for the time being," Apollo continued.

"_What? _But..."

"Well, at least ninety percent of our godliness?" Apollo scratched his head, looking at Artemis for confirmation. "Just enough to hide our powerful aura as to not alert the monsters near the area."

"The reason I wasn't able to come back here as soon as possible was because Zeus needed to enroll us at the chosen school, which is Hills Academy," Artemis finished.

All of us were horrified. "When will you start?" Kylie asked.

"Next week."

"Why didn't you fight back or resist?" Phoebe asked angrily.

"We did."

"That's why Hera had ichor flowing out from her nose. It was pretty funny, to be honest," Apollo added.

"Now that that's out, I need to rest. If you excuse me, I will go and retreat in my tent if anyone needs me," Artemis said, rubbing her temples with a weary sigh. She was about to enter her tent when she paused. "And Apollo, you may leave. I don't even know why you were with me in the first place."

Minutes after Artemis returned to her tent and Apollo left (surprisingly obedient today), everyone started whispering.

"If she's in a mortal school where will we stay, then?"

"Is Hills a good school?"

"For how long will they be there?"

Ignoring them, I slipped into Artemis's tent. She was just sitting there, cross-legged, her eyes closed peacefully that I felt guilty to disturb her.

"What is it, Thalia?" _How does she always know? _She opened one eye, observing me. "You have a twig in your hair."

"Oh, thanks," I replied, blushing slightly as I pulled it out of my messy 'do. "Sorry to disturb you, Lady Artemis, but may I ask you something?"

"Go on,"

"...Are you going to be okay?" I snapped the twig in my hands and glanced up at her. Both of her eyes were open now. They were as clear as the cloudless sky, but still hard to read.

"Of course I will!" Artemis laughed pleasantly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Um, because it's a _mortal school_? And in every school, there's—"

"Always someone like Aphrodite?" she finished for me.

"Yeah, exactly! We also have homework overload. And mean teachers or strict ones. And... And—"

"Don't worry. I've lived with Aphrodite, Athena, and Zeus for a long time. Five months is nothing compared to a millennia," she smirked.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Point taken."

She closed her eyes again, yet I still didn't leave. "Is there something else?"

"Since you'll be gone, we'll stay in Camp Half-Blood, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing," I left the tent quietly after that.

"So, what did she say?" Joyce asked.

"She'll be alright?"

"Duh. It's Artemis we're talking about," I rolled my eyes, lying that I didn't have any doubts.

"But isn't Hills... co-ed?" Kylie whispered.

I sighed, nodding yes. I've heard that school from Annabeth. The school was good, she had told me. Unfortunately, it would probably be infested with uncultured ego-maniacs. Probably.

"Where are we going to stay while Lady Artemis is posing as a mortal? Camp Half-Blood?"

"Yeah."

Kylie and Joyce's friend groaned. Joyce grinned. "There are cute boys there, right?" When nobody answered, she continued, "I can't wait to try something! Like, when a boy goes all, 'I'm cute, wanna go on a date with me, babe?' I'll go, 'Sorry, no. You're not cute. You never will be.'"

"Um..." Phoebe glanced at me. I shrugged.

"I did it to some boy when I was in the city. When I said he was worse than ugly, he freaked out and ran away, screaming, 'I need surgery—stat!'"

"Surgery?"

"You know what? You should try that on a kid who thinks he's all that."

"Ooh? Really?" Kylie squealed, walking away with Joyce.

"Sometimes, I don't get some girls,"

"What can I say?" I laughed. "We're a mystery."

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><p>Pls. review!<p> 


	3. Hotels and Schools

3rd chapter- enjoy!

How long did I leave you guys behind? A month or two? I'm really, really sorry. School started a month ago—busy, busy, busy!

I'd like to thank **ale-wholikessoupandotherthings, alexandriarulzforeva, HermesPotter, Don-Jam, lalarp, Artemis the Moon Maiden, OfMusicandMayhem, Iamtotallyluvinmylife, Erin Hunters 4 Ever, Kheilynn, **and** The Sea Goddess **for reviewing. Stay loving and keep on reading!

Tnx for the Favorites and Alerts! :3

Sadly, I do not own PJO. But I do own my OCs. :):

* * *

><p>Hotels and Schools<p>

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

I stared out of the window of our car, feeling quite uncomfortable and tense. I felt so different without my godly powers. It was like, I don't know, someone stole a part of my identity and kept it in a glittery, silver bottle.

Fine. That _did _happen. The wretched goddess of magic, Hecate, was quite glad that she could take part in our little punishment. It seemed that a few days before we got punished, Hermes _and_ Apollo played a little prank on her that involved a phone, Mighty Bond, envelopes, and boxes of chicken feathers.

I swear, gods who are supposed to be mature after three thousand years are _still _immature.

"Are we almost there?" Apollo asked impatiently, fiddling with his iPod.

"Almost," Zeus rumbled, swerving our car to the left to avoid a poor homeless man.

"Hey! What are ye freaking doing, man? Killin' meh?" He screamed, throwing a tattered newspaper at us. It missed by an inch and hit an officer instead.

"If he doesn't want to be killed, he shouldn't have been in the middle of the road."

Technically, the man was trying to cross the street, but Zeus beat the red light. Go figure.

"Do we really have to do this enrollment thing _now_?" Apollo questioned again, his voice akin to a whining puppy.

"Yes, _son_, we do," Zeus grumbled, trying to get into his mortal father character. With us acting like your complaining, uncooperative brats I guess it wasn't hard to get into the role. "What is so important that you need to, ah, ditch this?"

"I don't know, testing out my new synth? Writing a new haiku? And I didn't try to ditch—"

I snorted. The car locks—both power door lock and child lock—proved otherwise.

"—I was merely asking why today of all days!"

"Well, we wouldn't want such a fine lady like the principal to be waiting," Zeus replied casually. "She said she was excited to meet you two. So quit whining!"

I gagged and Apollo snickered.

"_Mrs. _Cassandra H. Bourke is already married. She's a momma of twins too," Apollo chuckled. "Pretty similar to Arty and I, only this time, Lisa—that's the twin girl's name—is better at everything."

I gave Apollo an annoyed look. "How'd you know that?"

"I dated Lisa," he said simply, as if I should've known.

"If her mother is the principal of Hills, shouldn't she be studying there? Wouldn't she recognize you?" I pointed out.

"Nah, no worries. She graduated a year ago. Besides, we broke up. When she found out I was already a daddy and I still had girlfriends—including her—she got stark raving mad and told me never to see her again," Apollo shrugged. "Her loss, I say."

"Wouldn't her _mother_ recognize you?"

"Nope. Who said that I couldn't exchange my beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes for black and hazelnut?"

I rolled my eyes in response.

"And since when were you interested about love life? Specifically, my love life? The only time you were interested was because you scolded me for being such a 'playboy.' But since you're _not _exactly scolding me..." His face brightened up. "Could it be... you're falling in love?" His face suddenly darkened, realizing what he just said. It probably occurred to him what happened the last time I was in love. "Wait, you're not... in love, right?" He asked cautiously.

I knew where this was going.

"Please, brother. That is just pure nonsense. I mean, really? Me, falling in love?" It was a stupid question, I admit. That did already happen. And, oh, how hard I fell.

Apollo knew better than to reply, so instead, he turned away and stared outside the car's window.

My thoughts exactly.

Turning back to my own window, I closed my eyes and took a little nap. I later awoke to the sound of Apollo's voice, pestering me yet again.

"Hey, is it somewhere here?" Apollo asked, scooting near me.

I shrugged as my eyes sleepily searched a structure that resembled to a school's.

Finally, my eyes landed on the huge structures protected by an iron gate. Security guards were milling around, stopping the cars wanting entrance for their school sticker. I continued to scan the white brick buildings and paved roads with a gaping mouth. It sure looked like a scene from a teen show.

"Is that Hills?" Apollo asked, his eyes gazing at the school with anticipation.

"It is," Zeus smiled.

oo00oo

**APOLLO'S POV**

It was weird that Hills wasn't really perched on top of a hill or something like that. When I first heard the school, I was convinced it was.

But little sis (as always) called me stupid and said, "It's named after the founder of the school, Ronald _Hills_."

To which I replied with, "Maybe Ronald was born on a hill?"

My sister disagreed with my theory. No surprise there.

We were in the waiting room of the principal's office, entertaining ourselves. I was listening to my iPod, Arty was reading the last year's issue of the school's magazine called _Hills Monthly _(why would anyone want to read something like that?), and Zeus was making sure for the hundredth time that we looked like what we were supposed to be: seventh grade twins that were blonde and auburn haired with same amber irises.

"So," I peered at the page Artemis was on, "have you figured out why they chose this school?"

"Does it really matter?" She huffed, flipping to the next page. The article was about some students learning to plant during some education field trip. "I heard this is a good school from my Hunters, but I doubt they care whether or not we get a good education."

"I don't know about you but maybe Demeter chose this because of this," I pointed at the planting article. "Maybe she thinks we can learn how to plant wheat and then create our own cereal called Hilly-Os."

"Really?"

"Hey, maybe it'll be praised because of its good quality, taste, and nutritional value. Then Demeter will_ finally_ stop bugging about eating cereal. Think about it!" I joked.

"Nice try, Apollo," Artemis scoffed, unsuccessfully hiding her small grin.

"Nice try, _Andrew_," Zeus corrected.

Artemis sighed, putting down her magazine and fixing our father with a glare. "Nice try, Andrew," she repeated.

"And watch the attitude, Alodia," Father added sternly.

I quietly laughed at our father's attempt to act like a mortal dad.

"You want us to act like a mortal teenager, Father? Well, this is how they act!" Artemis replied snarkily.

"Nice one," I whispered, still laughing.

"Thanks," Artemis managed a smile.

Just then the principal's assistant came in, saying that Mrs. Bourke was now ready.

"Yay!" I cheered sarcastically. The assistant threw me a serious look and I immediately shut my mouth.

The moment we entered, a tall brunette sitting on a black leather chair stood up and walked towards us with open arms. She was actually pretty, in an adult kind of way. She had a curvaceous body and brown hair the same shade of her heavily mascaraed eyes. Obviously Dad's type. "Hello. Welcome back, Mr. Mason!" The principal greeted, giving us a toothy smile.

I sniggered when I saw the red stain on her front teeth, like she had spent her spare time drinking the blood of rebellious students. (I'm pretty sure it's just red lipstick because the same thing happens to Aphrodite sometimes.) I quieted down, though, when she turned to us."They must be your children!" She mused, nodding her head vigorously, making her red dangling earrings jingle. "Alodia and Andrew Mason, correct?"

I stared at her, wondering who she was talking to. Who the heck were Alodia and Andrew? It was only me, Artemis, and—Oh, right. "Uh, yeah. That's us!" I smiled brightly, rivaling the principal's own smile.

"What bright-looking students!" Mrs. Bourke clapped her hands in delight. "How excited are you two to see the school? You'll enjoy it here, I'm sure."

"We'd love to see the whole school!" Arty exclaimed excitedly. I couldn't figure out if she was faking or not. I bet she was trying to give Mrs. Bourke a good impression of herself. Whatever. I don't need to kiss a principal's butt to come off as a "bright-looking student." I'm naturally awesome like that.

The principal threw back her head and laughed.

Artemis and I exchanged confused looks. "W-What's so funny?" She asked.

"Oh, nothing at all, dear," she said gently. "I've just never seen a student with so much... gusto. If I didn't know any better, you already have your eyes set on Student of the Year Award!" She let out another laugh and winked at my sister. Artemis swallowed, feigning a smile. "Kaaaaareeeennnnn!" She called out suddenly, making all of us jump.

The uptight lady from the waiting room arrived, poking her head through the open door. "Yes?"

"The tour for the Masons will begin,"

"Follow me, then," Karen instructed.

"Well, see you later! I'll be talking with your father here, alright?" The principal said as we went.

"That went better than I expected," I said, trying to keep up with Karen's pace. It was like a horde of Party Ponies were after her.

"I guess so," Artemis replied. "The stain on her teeth kind of bothered me, though. It reminded me of Aphrodite after I caught her making out with Ares once."

"How does one get a lipstick stain in her mouth after making out?"

"Does it look like I'm an expert in that field?"

"I can't believe you know what making out even means," I muttered under my breath. "Anyway, the stain reminded me of Aphrodite when she's seriously wasted and tries to apply make-up on. I swear, she looks like Joker when that happens."

"And that concludes my short speech... Are you two even listening?" Karen snapped, whipping her head towards us.

"Of course,"

"Hills Academy was founded by Ronal Hills. He, however, was not born on a hill!" I recited dutifully, flashing Karen a boyish smile once I was done.

She stared at us with her beady eyes suspiciously, pushing up her glasses. "Bright students my foot," she snorted before stalking off to the direction of the canteen.

"This, obviously, is the cafeteria,"

"Oh, wow..." I inhaled the wonderful scent of food that wafted around the big, spacious cafeteria. _Can we eat? _I licked my lips and tried to get some money from my pocket when I remembered I only had drachmas. _If only they accepted drachmas here..._

Just then a girl walked passed us, holding a glass bottle full of sky blue liquid. "Is that... What is that? Alcohol?" I asked hesitantly. Maybe that's why Karen is so cranky.

Karen gave me a weird look and burst out laughing. It was so shrill and attention-grabbing that a few students stared at our direction. "We don't allow soft drinks to be sold in our school! So why on earth would we allow wine? If only you've been listening to what I was saying earlier, then you'd be knowledgeable on our school's Vision-Mission. And it certainly does not include supplying alcohol to underage students!"

"Then what was that questionable drink?" Artemis asked.

"Bubblegum soy milk, I think. What kids drink these days..."

"It must taste delicious," I mused, licking my lips again. I still haven't eaten lunch!

Karen simply nodded and urged us to move on, adding that we could go back here if we finished early.

About an hour later our tour was done and we were brought back to the principal's office.

"They're done with the tour, ma'am," Karen informed Mrs. Bourke.

"How was the tour?"

"It was very..." Artemis paused, searching for the right word to describe the tour we agreed on but didn't bother to pay attention to.

"...Informative!" I finished, thinking of the different meals I got to eat—all thanks to my sister's benevolence.

"Good, good! I've already relayed all things you need to know to your father. Anyway, I understand that the family will still be going somewhere important. You can go now. Good luck on your first day, students."

"Thank you. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Bourke," Artemis said politely.

"Yeah, thanks!" I interjected.

"I have the same thought too," Mrs. Bourke chirped. "Have a safe trip!"

oo00oo

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

I sat on one of Carlton Hotel's sofa, letting the velvet swallow me. With my arms crossed, I glanced around the intimidating lobby, wondering why it had to be this place.

"I thought we'd be staying in Olympus," I said honestly.

"Surprise! You two will be staying here." Zeus stated simply.

"Only us? I mean, we're physically seventh graders!" Apollo protested.

"He's right, father. What you're doing is—"

"I'm a god! Someone like me is higher than a mortal and their silly laws!" Zeus boomed. "Besides, we'll be IMing from time to time. And remember gods can see everything from Olympus."

"_I _used to see everything, including bits of the future. But not anymore. I'll have to wait for some future-gazing till summer solstice." Apollo sighed, pouting.

"Well, what would you say if you two will stay in an Empire suite?" Zeus smirked, waving the suite cards around.

Apollo jumped up and grabbed the cards. His jaw was almost hitting the floor. "EMPIRE? It's not the Penthouse, but still. Sweet!" He was still jumping up and down, pumping his fists in the air like an overly-energetic cheerleader.

"Close your mouth," I ordered in a low voice, glancing around the lobby carefully. Guests and staff alike were giving him annoyed glares. "It's big enough for the Minotaur to sleep in. And quit jumping, people are staring. "

"We can go to your hotel room right now," Zeus suggested hurriedly.

"Alright," I stood up and followed my father and brother to the elevators.

When we arrived at our suite, I immediately realized why Apollo looked so pumped. Anyone could've been like that if they were in our shoes.

Our suite was simply... beautiful, to put it. A four-person dining table greeted us near the door and a few feet away from it were sofas and a coffee table. The window behind the sofas offered a breathtaking view of the city. A flat screen TV hung on the cream-colored wall, with the study table and an office chair just under it. To my right was an open door, which probably lead to bedroom and bathroom. It was less impressive than a Penthouse Suite, but I did like the simplistic design of this room.

"How much did this cost?" I asked Zeus, ignoring Apollo's whoops of delight.

"Eh, let's just say this was quite expensive... _if_ I were a mortal! Ha!" He blurted.

"Expensive? My lord, try to remember that we'll be staying here until summer solstice begins—and we still need to wait for a few months for that to happen!"

"Chillax, sis. We're gods remember?" Apollo ran beside me.

"Chillax? I will not chillax, Apollo!" I practically screamed in frustration. "What about the staff? Wouldn't they be curious that two seventh graders are occupying an expensive suite for more than a month?"

"Zeus will do something, right?"

Zeus nodded his head thoughtfully. "I'll leave you two now, okay? I still have business to attend to!"

"But what about—" I had to cut my question short, watching in annoyance as Zeus disappeared in a flash of lightning.

"Nothing to worry about, Arty—or should I say Alodia?" Apollo patted my head. "And besides, just be thankful they gave this room."

"What do you mean?" I asked, pushing his hand away from my head. Although I was playing it cool, I was curious with what he was going to say. "It's not like they even care where they put us in as long as we're out of their hair. I told you that already."

"I bargained with Father if he let us stay in some awesome hotel near the Empire State Building rather than a cruddy apartment, we'd be good siblings to each other,"

"You could've made him agree that we'd stay in Olympus,"

"Oh, it's part of the mortal experience," Apollo snorted, like he couldn't believe it either. "They want us to be as mortal as possible. Now, if you excuse me, I'll be raiding the bathroom!"

"Just don't stink it up."

"You assume too much, sis!" He chastised. I rolled my eyes defiantly. "I just want to see if there are any awesome stuff in there. This is the best part of the punishment!" He exclaimed, heading straight for one of the rooms as he continued to laugh giddily.

Knowing I couldn't do anything, I called out, "Ill be watching Animal Planet if you need me!"

"Sure, sure!" Apollo's muffled voice floated out of the bathroom when, suddenly, a loud crash filled the suite.

I couldn't tell the future, but I knew this is going to be a _long _day.

* * *

><p>Pls. review!<p>

Oh, well. Now it's time to finish my book report...


	4. Confessions of a Non Shopaholic

4th chapter- enjoy!

And yes... I am alive! Ahem. Sorry for the long wait! Just three more days and school starts again. :( Really loud in the background, I swear. HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D

I'd like to thank **Kheilynn, socrgrl14, Don-Jam, Gypsy1213, Erin Hunters 4 Ever, CharkO, Goddess of Revenge, Otakugirl 13, UltimateLoveStorys,** and** magicdemi-god223 **for reviewing. Stay loving and keep on reading!

Tnx for the Favorites and Alerts! :3

Sadly, I do not own PJO. But I do own my OCs. :):

* * *

><p>Confessions of a Non-Shopaholic<p>

**THRID PERSON'S POV**

Loud, impatient knocking and doorbell ringing woke up Apollo.

Apollo hesitantly opened his right eye, then his left. He slowly sat up, and to his surprise, realized he had been sleeping on the couch and the TV was still blaring.

_Huh. How'd I get here? _He thought curiously, eyeing the snacks that were left unopened on the coffee table. _Oh yeah... I must've slept while watching. _

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! DING-DONG! DING-DONG! DING-DONG!_

Groaning, Apollo rolled to the side and stood up, walking to the direct of his sister's room. "Arty's—I mean Alodia's coming!" He said groggily. He jiggled the doorknob, but it was lock. "Allie!" Apollo called out, using his new nickname for his sister's temporary name. "Wake up! Can you check who's knocking?" He paused and checked for a response. He waited for a few minutes, and then...

"Oh, so now you're calling me Allie? And why can't you do it Apollo? You're already up...!" was Artemis's irritated response.

"I'm still sleeping!" Apollo whined, weakly banging on the door. He stopped when he heard Artemis muttering in Greek and finally, she unlocked the doorknob and opened the door.

"Still sleeping?" Artemis repeated, glaring at Apollo. "Aren't you usually a morning person?"

Apollo shrugged. "Hey, you can't blame me. I slept late last night."

"So did I," replied Artemis. "You kept disturbing me."

Ignoring Artemis, the sun god asked, "And did you know I slept on the couch last night with the TV still on?"

"Whatever, Apollo," Artemis said and walked to the main door, muttering, "Who would bother seventh graders at nine in the morning?"

Artemis stood on her toes and looked through the peephole. There, she saw an unfamiliar teen-aged girl knocking on the door impatiently and mumbling some unclear words.

"Do you know who is it?" Apollo called from the couch.

Artemis shook her head no, and was about to unlock the door when the teenager spoke. "M'gods! I am tired acting polite—"

_Polite?_

"—to those deaf gods! I've been knocking for, like, forever! Since when did they even care about their beauty sleep? Especially that Artemis… Good thing we're going to the mall today. She's _so_ going to need beauty advice…"

_Wait. Gods? Beauty Sleep? Mall? _Artemis looked through the peephole again, staring hard at the ranting girl. This time, she noticed her features kept on changing, like they were trying to match Artemis's taste of beauty.

"Aphrodite?" she gasped, unlocking the door.

Aphrodite ceased ranting and smirked, placing her hands on her cocked hips. "Finally! One of you bothered to answer the doo-oo-oor…!" She pushed the shocked Artemis aside and walked in the suite.

"H-Hey!" Artemis blurted as she closed the door as gently as she could. "Who told you—"

"Just look at you, Allie," the love goddess snorted, ignoring the glares Artemis was shooting her. "Did you escape from the mental hospital last night and accidentally got hit by this garbage truck, and then got caught in some tornado?"

"I just woke up!" Artemis hissed. "And don't call me—"

"Please! _I _don't look like some distressed prisoner when I wake up. When I wake up, I look like… like a beauty goddess who's posing as Kate Middleton!"

"Prince William will be very upset when he finds out a love and self-obsessed goddess is posing as his wife. And what will the people of England think?" Artemis shot back, rolling her eyes. _Is she this vain early in the morning?_

Aphrodite was about to say something back, when Apollo butted in. "Aphrodite? What're you doing here?"

"To take you to the mall, of course!" Aphrodite said brightly, her mood changing quickly.

"Huh?" The twins asked in unison, looking at her with blank faces.

"Zeus told me I should accompany you to the mall today! He said I had the best shopping taste, and although I do agree, I think he just wants to get rid of me because I kept nagging that he should clean the public toilets back In Olympus." Aphrodite rolled her eyes at the thought. "And if I remember correctly, you two don't have any available clothes, correct?"

The twins embarrassingly looked down at their clothes, tugging the hems.

"So you've been wearing the same clothes since yesterday? Oh, I think I'm going to faint! Or vomit! Or both!" Aphrodite exclaimed dramatically. After composing herself, she glared at the twins. "How come you didn't IM us for a change of clothes? Or maybe enough money so you two can go shopping?"

"We did!"

"And no one responded!"

"Oops, sorry. We must've been arguing about the toilets at that time. Then what about dinner?"

"We got a take-out,"

"Food before fashion to have energy to shop, I guess," Aphrodite mumbled, looking for a change of topic. "I must say I just love, love your suite! So sophisticated and expensive-looking! "But I think it looks better with purple? Or pink? What do you think?"

"This place looks better without you here," Artemis muttered under her breath.

"What was that, honey?" Aphrodite's voice was sugary-sweet, but her eyes told a different story.

"No. It doesn't look better in pink."

Aphrodite squinted. "Why don't you two freshen up so we can leave for the mall now?"

"We don't have any fresh clothes to wear right now!" Apollo complained, tugging the sleeves of his shirt.

Aphrodite sighed and snapped her fingers. A new set of clothes for Apollo landed on the couch. Artemis's clothes landed on her head.

"Great, thanks!" Apollo said gratefully, and left for the bathroom.

"If we have a new pile of clothes right now," Artemis said, angrily taking off the pants that was covering half her face, "why do we still need to go shopping? Can't you just make clothes appear with a snap of your fingers?"

"Zeus said you two need to get used to buying things for yourselves. And shopping can be fun, you know!"

oo00oo

**THIRD PERSON'S POV**

"This is a waste of time and money," Artemis declared, eyeing the multiple shopping bags one woman was carrying. "Do we even _have _money?"

Aphrodite giggled and opened her Gucci handbag. She reached in and took out a wallet, handing it to Artemis.

"Seriously?" Apollo asked after seeing the wad of cash in the wallet. "Did you steal a bank?"

"Maybe…" Aphrodite said mysteriously, grabbing back her wallet. "Or maybe not…"

"You've got to be kidding me..."

"By the way, call me Olivia, okay? And if anyone asks, I'm your cousin!" Aphrodite whispered to the twins, smiling at two boys who were checking her out.

"And why is that?"

"Allie, Allie, Allie," Aphrodite sighed, "it's kind of—"

"How come Olivia gets to call you Allie?" Apollo demanded, looking hurt.

"I—"

"See? Andrew's already calling me Olivia,"

Artemis sighed in defeat. "Let's just go,"

"There's the shopping spirit!" Aphrodite cheered. "Just be a little more lively, 'kay, hon?"

"I just want to get out of here quick."

"How come? Shopping is really enjoyable!" Aphrodite exclaimed childishly.

"For you, maybe. Just make those 'things' appear with a snap of your fingers and bring us back home, then return here to resume shopping. This is such a big waste of our time!"

"Uhh... We're already here, Allie. If we go back to your hotel without buying anything or at least window shopping... won't _that_ be a waste of time?"

"She's got a point, sis,"

"I always do! Now come on, let's go shopping!"

oo00oo

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

I stared at the boy and Aphro—I mean Olivia, in horror and disgust.

Why shouldn't I? They were complete strangers to each other and they were already flirting! Teenagers these days...

"Olivia," I said quietly, tapping her shoulder, "aren't we supposed to be... _shopping_?" _And not watching you flirt with a random guy?_ I mentally seethed.

"Ignore my cousin," Aphrodite instructed the brunet, "she's just really confusing sometimes. At first, she wasn't into the idea of shopping. And now..." She made a crude hand gesture and rolled her eyes.

The boy pouted in a way that was cute... to other girls, maybe. "Gonna leave?"

"Soon," Aphrodite sighed. "I guess we're just waiting for her brother."

Was she actually _sad_ that she'll be leaving this boy?

The stranger turned to me, smiling as he eyed the few bags in my arms. "I'll bring those if you want,"

"No thanks."

The boy raised an eyebrow, as if he couldn't believe I turned his offer down. Finally, he turned to leave and waved good bye without looking back at us.

"Hey, sis, Olivia!" Apollo said, suddenly appearing beside us, three smoothies in his hands. "Who was that guy?"

The two of us turned to Aphrodite and waited for her to say his name. After seconds of silence, she replied, "No idea,"

"You two were flirting and you didn't bother to ask his name?" I snorted. "By the way, when will you carry your _own_ bags?" I asked, hitting a C&C shopping bag with my knee.

"Hey, I'm carrying these too, so don't complain," Aphrodite kicked two plastic bags from the bookstore using her high heeled foot.

"Well, the things in those bags are _ours_. The stuff in these shopping bags I'm holding are _yours_." I pointed out. I turned to my brother and opened my mouth to speak, but he interrupted me.

"I'm not holding those bags for you," he said, pausing to slurp his smoothie, and then continued. "Olivia, I thought we were here to buy _our _clothes and stuff for school. Not yours."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm done buying my clothes anyways. I think... I don't know. We'll see what I find in the other stores when we're checking clothes for you two." Aphrodite finished her strawberry-banana smoothie and threw the cup in the bin next to the bench she was sitting on, standing up. "Let's go."

Sighing, Apollo and I followed her into DKNY.

"Hey, welcome to DKNY!" A perky, dark-skinned salesgirl greeted. "Love your top, by the way. We have that here! I think the medium or smallest size can fit your friend." The salesgirl complemented Aphrodite as she pointed to me.

I side-glanced Aphrodite's top. It was pale yellow with a group of bronze sequins near the collar bone. It was nice and simple. If I can't convince Aphrodite to just make some clothes appear using her godly powers, might as well buy a few.

"Nice skinny jeans too. From Sevens?"

Aphrodite nodded her head.

"Cool. How much?"

"I don't know. After I found out it fit me, I just bought it without checking the price,"

The two laughed as if they were sharing some hilarious joke. After the laughing died down, Aphrodite shooed the salesgirl away.

"As if she can afford it," Aphrodite said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, meet me here in twenty, yeah? " She turned to leave, but Apollo stopped her.

"Don't leave me here! I don't want to buy some clothes from... from this place!" He protested, eyes scanning the racks of fashionable clothes.

"I'm also checking out some clothes from 'this place,'" Aphrodite informed him. "I'm not leaving you alone either. You might get lost... again. This mall is a very big place, you know."

Apollo's cheeks turned into a shade of light pink that matched Aphrodite's blush. "Hopefully, I'll get lost in a place fit for _my _gender."

"Just help Allie look for clothes," Aphrodite instructed my twin, leaving us.

"Fine," Apollo huffed and grabbed a random shirt. "How 'bout this?"

I shook my head and continued my search.

"Why not? I think it'll look good on you, sis," Apollo said, putting back the tube top on the shelf. "If you don't wanna show skin, just use a jacket or something."

Ignoring him, I searched a rack that was holding the same shirt as Aphrodite's. A glint to me left went unnoticed by me. It was a bluish-white shirt that had the same design as Aphrodite's, but the sequins were silver. I grabbed that one triumphantly.

I headed for the dressing room and found Aphrodite leaving a stall with an armload of clothes.

"Aphrodite, I'm not carrying those,"

"Who says I'll be buying all of these? Oh, and here." She dropped the clothes on a white couch and picked up a few and handed them to me.

I sighed as I got them and entered a vacant stall. At least she knew I didn't like showing that much skin.

After what seemed like forever, we left the store. Honestly? It was better than expected, minus Apollo's obnoxious complaining and Aphrodite almost causing World War 3 with another shopper.

"Oooh!" Aphrodite suddenly squealed. "Hey, Bath & Body Works or Victoria's Secret?"

My eyebrows drew close as I followed her arms to the stores she was pointing at. "Oh. Perfume stores?" Aphrodite nodded expectantly. "Um, I don't know... Sorry?"

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Right. I forgot who I was asking." She muttered as she signaled us two follow her to Victoria's Secret. Apollo went in the huge shop, but I stayed just in front of the entrance.

"I'll wait here,"

I waited and waited, and started to wonder what took them so long. I know Aphrodite, so I guess I'm supposed to be wondering what was Apollo doing. I peeked in the store's sultry exterior, my eyes widening. I should've expected this.

_That pervert!_

I angrily stomped to where Apollo was and grabbed him by the collar.

"Oof! Hey, what the heck?"

"One of the reasons I hate males," I angrily declared, "is because most of them are perverts!"

Apollo gulped nervously and gave me a weak smile. "I was just—"

"Having fun looking at girls like her?" I asked, poking the poster that showed a raven haired girl sporting nothing but a red silk bra with matching underwear.

"S-She was—"

I slapped him. Not too hard, of course—just enough to kill the invisible mosquito on his cheek. But the salesman (and Apollo) didn't know that.

"Ma'am, if you'd kindly—"

"This is a store that not just sells perfume but also undergarments for women..." I kept repeating as I pulled my sniffling brother to the counter where I spotted Aphrodite.

"Hey, I thought—Why's Andrew...?"

"It should be illegal for men to enter stores like this or even work here."

oo00oo

**THIRD PERSON'S POV**

Artemis tiredly sighed as she lay down on her comfy bed. She glanced at the phone Aphrodite gave her. ("It's the Age of Modern Technology, after all!") The screen glowed 3:41 P.M., but her internal clock said it was twelve midnight. Who knew shopping could be so tiring and stressful?

Someone knocked at her door softly. It was the love goddess. "Apollo told me to help you fix your stuff first. Let's do your clothes."

Artemis hesitantly got up and picked up one of the shopping bags that lay at the bed's foot. Slowly, she dumped the contents.

"Hey! You don't treat silk that way!"

_Silk? A_rtemis looked down and saw a particular pink necktie top... which she knew she rejected.

"Aphrodite..."

"Sorry, but it was cute on you!"

"And this dress! I didn't want it either!" Artemis complained. "Wait... Don't tell me that the outfits I rejected... you still _bought_ them?"

"Some," Aphrodite admitted.

_Ugh...! Hopefully, my Hunters are having a better time,_

oo00oo

**THIRD PERSON'S POV**

"Whoa," Nico said as he stepped out of the black portal he created. He stepped to his left, missing a silver arrow that whizzed by, but bumped into a tree instead.

"Nico!" Percy called out.

"Percy," Nico nodded at the older boy, surveying the scene in front of him. "Are the Hunters...?"

"Yeah, they're here. It seems that the twin gods got punished and were sent to this school in New York till summer, so Artemis sent her Hunters here. They didn't want to tell us the reason at first. But this girl, Joyce Andrews, spilled it out. Turns out, she has a big mouth."

Nico snickered. "Is that why the camp looks like it's been attacked by Titans?"

"No," Percy snorted, "just a while ago, this kid flirted with a Hunter."

"Like father, like son," a voice behind them chuckled. From the shadows, Thalia emerged. Percy noticed that her arm had a cut.

"Thalia! You okay?"

"Don't worry; just a small cut." She turned to Nico. "Glad you arrived. Even Chiron's having a hard time to calm down Beatrice."

"Beatrice?"

"The girl who started this mess. She absolutely can't stand boys. So when Mark, the son of Apollo, put a shoulder around her and started flirting with her..." Thalia spread her arms.

"She caused _all_ of this?"

"Nah. Just started. The others tried to stop her from murdering Mark... though... it's like stopping a monster on the loose. But she's pretty over dramatic, if you ask me." Percy explained.

"Wow," was all Nico could say.

"BEAAA!" A voice screamed. "C'mon, stop! Take deep breaths and say the things I taught you before to Mark! Just say—OUUCCCH!"

"'Nother girl down," Percy sighed. "Gods, so annoying."

"Seaweed Brain, stop getting distracted! Get your butt wherever Mark is!" Annabeth growled.

"She's pretty stressed with the mess," Percy sighed as he ran towards the raging blonde.

"She sure is," Nico whistled. "So... Who was that girl—"

"Who? Joyce? She's Beatrice's best friend. Couldn't stop her own friend either."

"What was she talking about?"

"A few days before we went here Joyce taught us how to reject boys and say they're ugly at the same time."

"A perfect time to visit, then," Nico grumbled.

"Beatrice," Chiron shouted, "please stop overreacting. You are causing us to get worked up because of a petty reason."

"Ugh...! Hopefully, Lady Artemis is having a better time,"

* * *

><p>Pls. review!<p>

Hmmm... Not much Apollo here. I'll let him hog the spotlight in the next chapter!

Funny thing, the Victoria Secret scene was loosely based on an experience during a visit in the States. Minus the slapping and fighting, of course.

Some practices and details for the school in the next chapter will be different from the usual American school since I come from a different country. As much as possible, I'll try to make it similar.

Also, I'll be having a contest of sorts. I'm going to need a clique name and I just can't decide. So hopefully you guys can send in a group name. Once I get at least two clique names, we'll be able to vote through the poll I'll set up. You'll find out the winner in whatever chapter the clique will appear or through the poll.


	5. First Impressions

5th chapter- enjoy!

Sorry for the late update, you guys! I was thinking I that I would be able to update last month (specifically on my birthday...) but it's August now, so never mind that. Oh, and how do you like this fic's cover? **kittykatsrock-99 **and I worked hard for it! (Well, mostly her since I just did the draft...) I know it's not that clear, but I'll have a friend color it~

I'd like to thank **SailorMoonAddict, socrgirl14, LOLbrooke, magicdemi-god223, Gypsy1213, Erin Hunters 4 Ever, MEAM-neko n.n, Moonlight'sServant, BeccaH-BoOkLuVeR, AgaveRaven1132000, **and** Lunalovegood006 **for reviewing. Wow, you guys- in total I've got forty-one reviews. That's a lot for a five-chapter story! Thanks so much! :'D

Okay, so I'm sure most of you want to know what clique name won in my little poll that I mentioned in the previous chapter! Drum roll, please...! The winning entry is... _The Elites_! Which means The Elites will be the name for the group that will be appearing in the story frequently.

Next up is _Chic_ _Clique_. Third is _The Populars_. And lastly, _[Name of Leader] and the Girls_. Thanks for the submissions! The poll is still up in my profile, if you guys wanna check it out. :)

Tnx for the Favorites and Alerts! :3

Sadly, I do not own PJO. But I do own my OCs. :):

* * *

><p>First Impressions<p>

**APOLLO'S POV**

For the first time in my life, I've never felt so... nervous. Alright, so maybe that's a teensy lie. I'm a nervous wreck in multiple occasions, but I've got a reputation to uphold as the laidback, easygoing god. Besides, the girls won't dig it if I'm sweaty mess.

So why, exactly, was I feeling this? Artemis wasn't in the hands of some obnoxious Titan. We weren't going into war. My sis and I will be just going into a classroom full of mortal students.

I let out an impatient sigh and leaned against the ledge, and started to fiddle with my iPod. Our adviser was still talking to the students, and we've been waiting outside the classroom for almost eight minutes! How long does it take for a teacher to tell her students that two new students will be joining her class?

Earlier, I tried to make eye contact and signal _hurry up_, but to my annoyance, she mistook it as an evil eye and shot me a look of her own.

"Arty—"

"Call me by my mortal name, _Andrew_," she sighed.

"Everybody's in their classroom, so no one will hear us." I pointed out. "Ugh, why is she taking so long?"

"Can't you be more patient? I—Whoa!" Artemis stepped back just in time before the door swung open and hit her. Which, if you ask me, would've been funny to see... Not that I'd tell her, of course.

"Hey," a boy with droopy eyes yawned, "Ms. Gray wants you two in." He paused for a moment and glanced at me and Artemis, as if it was his first time seeing twins.

_Finally!_ I scooped up my bag and followed my sis and the sleepy boy into the classroom.

Everyone's eyes were on us as we walked to the front of the class. The room was painted a peachy white color, and rows of sky blue lockers were placed at the back. On either side of the lockers were two bulletin boards with reminders stuck to them.

At the front of the class was the usual chalkboard and off to the side was the teacher's table and beside it was a TV sitting on top of a cabinet—They had TV in the classroom? Cool!

"So, class," the teacher said, "these are your new classmates, Alodia and Andrew Mason. Alodia, Andrew, is it alright for you two to give us a little introduction? Just so we can get to know you better."

I was unsure. Did that mean we have to make up some information? After all, I'm pretty sure we can't just say "Hey, I'm Andrew and she's Alodia! But we're actually Apollo and Artemis—gods who were punished and sent here until we learn to deal!" What if they send us to the mental hospital? We won't be able to learn how to "deal" there! Thankfully, though, sis got it covered. (That's _so_ her; always prepared.)

"Just as what Ms. Gray said, I'm Alodia Mason. Yes, we're both twins. Oh, and I'm—"

"I'm the older one!" I piped up. Giggles rippled through the room.

"—I'm the older one!" Artemis insisted. "Don't listen to him! He's... Uh, I mean... Since we're new around here, I hope we get along...?" A few students politely clapped as she awkwardly ended her introduction.

"My turn!" I exclaimed cheerfully. I paused, waiting for the girl students to stop whispering. Ah, the chick magnet as always. "I'm Alodia's younger twin brother, as she claims. Now that I think about, it _does _show Allie's older than me. She's always cranky!"

The students burst into loud laughter, drowning out Arty's gasp.

"Class!" Ms. Gray shouted to be heard over the laughter. "Quite down, please! Alright, if that's all you two have to say, will there be any questions coming from your new classmates?" No one said a word. "No one? Okay, you two, your seats are the empty ones at the back. Class schedule is posted at the bulletin board. Your lockers are the last and second to the last, starting from the left."

Artemis and I nodded as we made our way to the seats. Our seats were those wooden chairs with an arm and a metal book basket under it. The two available seats were the ones at the second and third to the last row, and both were beside the aisle. Artemis quickly claimed the one in the second to the last row, so I had no choice but to plop my bag down on the chair in front of hers.

"What subjects?" I asked, shuffling through my bag for my books.

"Math and Science,"

I stifled a groan. Was she serious? I stood up and checked the schedule for Monday posted at the smaller bulletin board. She wasn't kidding.

What a way to start my morning!

oo00oo

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

I let out a sigh of relief as Apollo and I stepped into the cafeteria. My stomach was rumbling with hunger, and from the way Apollo was running towards the selection of food, the same thing was happening to him too.

I quickly scurried towards him, grabbed a black rectangular tray, and took my place behind him. When he saw my tray after paying he grinned at me. "I thought girls don't like eating,"

"Really, Apollo? This is the reason why some girls starve themselves to death. I can't believe that you're actually one of the people who actually think girls would be better off without food!"

His smile dropped. "Jeez, I was only joking. The girls I've been dating recently are all on diets for some reason."

"Whatever. Just don't do it again," I huffed. "So where are we going to sit?"

Apollo shrugged. "We don't know anyone yet."

"Why don't we sit there?" I pointed at the empty table near us. "No one's—"

"Are you kidding me?" Apollo screeched. "If we sit by ourselves, we could be labeled as loners or losers! No way."

"But... aren't we sitting together?"

"Other than ourselves," he clarified.

I rolled my eyes, though I wasn't in the mood to argue. If I did, I would probably faint from exhaustion.

"Alright, then. How about him?" I jerked my head in the direction of the guy who sat beside Apollo in class. I think his name was Rick. "You seemed pretty friendly with him."

"Oh, him?" Apollo shook his head. "He just kept talking to me, that's all. He's annoying, he sounds like Tweety Bird. Besides, I thought you hated boys."

I felt my face go warm. "Since you keep shooting down my suggestions, why don't you suggest who we eat with?" I asked, successfully dodging the question.

"Sure!" Apollo scanned the noisy cafeteria. "Oh, how 'bout them?" He nodded at a group of girls hurrying towards a long table in the middle of the room.

Before I could reply, Apollo was already walking towards them.

"...Why not?" A blonde haired girl agreed as I caught up. "I'm Rica, by the way. Andrew, right?"

"Yes," Apollo mouthed to me as he took a seat beside Rica. I was about to place my tray beside his, when a girl slammed down her purse on the pale blue table.

"Sorry," the girl purred, "but Andrew's the only one allowed here. He only asked for himself."

"What?" I glared at him.

"I didn't!" Apollo looked at me, then at Rica. "I didn't. I said, 'We' not 'Me!'"

"Oops!" Rica quickly covered her pink-stained mouth in mock surprise. "You did? Sorry, I can be deaf sometimes." She looked up at me and smirked. "Sorry, uh, you..."

"...That's okay. I'll find another table," I quickly replied. "Andrew, see you in the classroom?"

"Alo—"

"It's not like I want to hang out with you snobs anyway." I added for good measure as I walked away.

_So where do I sit now? _I asked myself, hurt burning in my chest. I've never been treated this way before. Well, maybe by Aphrodite and sometimes Hera, but still. You'd think those girls were goddesses and I was just... one of the "puny mortals" as Zeus liked to call them.

_Eh, what harm can it do? _I walked over to an empty table. I wasn't going to be here next year, so who cares what students labeled me? I wasn't exactly the type of person to care about all that stuff either.

"Alodia!"

I turned around and saw Apollo running towards me, all smiles.

"Andrew? You already have a table—"

"Because you're my sister," Apollo cut me off. His voice oozed of "duh."

I blinked in surprise. That was probably the sweetest thing he told me! "Really?"

Apollo scratched his head, blushing. "Uh, yeah. And it's also because those girls reeked off Someday!"

I stared at him blankly.

"You know, Justin Bieber's perfume?"

"How did you know that?"

"That's because I've once dated this girl who was a major Belieber!" Apollo huffed. "And is it bad to check what my son's doing?"

I giggled. "You make it sound like you don't like your own son!"

Apollo smiled sheepishly. "He's improving... Anyway! Let's go find us a table!"

"I was about to—"

"Her!" Apollo pointed to a lone girl sitting at a table off to the side.

I sighed as I followed my brother. _At least she's not afraid to sit_ _alone._

"Hey," Apollo said as we arrived. "Mind if we sit with you?"

The girl looked up, taking us in with her narrow hazel eyes. "Sure... Okay."

"Thanks!" I said in relief, placing my tray on the table.

"No problem,"

The girl was thin and petite and had a black, angular bob and creamy pale skin. She was wearing this peacock earring on her left ear but instead of the regular peacock colors, it was gold and bronze.

"Nice earring," I complimented, partly because I wanted to break the awkward silence, but also because it was really nice. "Where did you get it?"

"Yeah, it is pretty cool," Apollo chimed in.

The girl touched the earring and smiled at us. "Thanks. My mom gave it to me as a birthday present last year. I'm Sophie Goodland."

Could it be we were making our first friend? "I'm Alodia Mason,"

"And I'm Andrew! We're twins and we're new."

"I can see that." Sophie cocked her head. "So what room were you two placed?"

"Mmm... Four."

"Ms. Gray's class? The English teacher?"

"Yeah,"

"Hmm..." Sophie took a sip from her water bottle. "What do you think of her?"

"She takes a lot of time," I admitted, "but other than that she's okay."

Sophie nodded like she understood us. "You're right. She's nice but she hates it when people don't listen to her. Her number one rule is respect."

"Really?"

"Yep. She used to be our sub during the first few weeks of school. She caught these two girls passing notes in class, and she read the note out loud. What really sucked was the note had something to do with crushes and all. Oh, and some stuff saying about how boring Ms. Gray is."

"Wow."

Sophie shrugged. "They shouldn't done that in the first place."

I thought over this as Apollo continued to gulp down his spaghetti, oblivious to what was happening.

"So—"

_Ping!_

Sophie grabbed the scratched cellphone beside her tray and started to tap some buttons on the keypad. Seconds later, she glanced at us and gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, but I've got to go. Olive and Olivia need me."

I nodded, pretending to have an idea who were those people. We watched her get up from her white plastic chair and leave.

"See ya!" Apollo called.

Sophie looked over her shoulder and grinned goodbye.

"She's nice," Apollo commented.

I stayed silent but mentally agreed as I picked up my fork. Just as I was about to dig in, the five-minute warning bell rang.

_"Oh, come on!"_

Two hours later, I was _way _too happy when the teacher finally dismissed us—fifteen minutes after the supposed dismissal time.

But better than being stuck there for the rest of the day, right?

"Come on, Andrew!" I hissed at my brother, trying to insert myself into his (small) circle of new-found friends... or admirers. Whichever.

"Wait, wait," he insisted then went back to telling the tale of the time someone quite close to him got peacock feathers, cow poo, and milk into his red sports car. In other words, the time _Apollo _lied to Hera and faced harsh consequences.

He's probably going to be the one who'll make us stay here until the evening.

"Fine," I grumbled, stomping out of the classroom. "I'll leave you if you don't come out in fifteen minutes!" I threatened. I don't think he heard me, though. As always.

_Maybe Father should've just given him new ears, _I thought as I dropped my backpack beside me. _It's his deafness that got us here in the first place._

I sighed softly, suddenly feeling a little bored. I wasn't exactly sure how to use my mobile phone, and even if I did, I'm pretty sure I left it in the suite. Maybe I should just leave my brother behind...

I looked behind my shoulder and narrowed my eyes at my laughing brother. No, that was a _bad_ idea. What's worse: being stuck here waiting for Apollo or leaving Apollo behind, and later on, having to deal with his complaints and whines on being left behind?

"Later!" a familiar, cheery voice trilled.

I glanced at the direction of the voice and found Sophie waving goodbye to two girls with matching white blonde French braids.

"Sophie!" I exclaimed, waving. She turned around and smiled and towards me.

"Hey, Alodia—" She paused and then eyed me. "It's Alodia, right? Sorry, I'm bad remembering names. Too much has been going on."

"Yeah, that's me."

Sophie nodded her head, touching her temple to seal my name in her head. "Good. So...?"

"What?"

"I mean, why'd you call me?"

"Oh. Oh..." I shook my head no. "I wasn't calling you or anything. I was just... saying hello."

"Oh." She let out a laugh. "Well, I'm here now." Sophie dropped her bag, kicking it slightly as she hauled herself on the classroom's ledge's flat surface. "And since I'll get picked up at four, might as well hang out with someone I know." _Was that supposed to be insulting? _She looked at me. "How about you? You waiting for your brother or something?"

I slowly nodded my head and turned around. Sophie did the same.

"He's telling them a story,"

"Ooh, what kind?" Sophie asked, knocking on the sliding glass window to catch the attention of my only other redheaded classmate, Jules. Jules waved hi and Sophie waved back.

"Just something,"

"Hm. Okay."

We were quiet for a moment, watching the students pass by, filling each other on the after school gossip while others joked and pushed each other around.

"What do you think of your classmates?" Sophie asked randomly.

I propped my elbows on the ledge and turned to face the classroom. "They're... okay," I replied slowly. "Most of them are. The others are too noisy and rough and perverted. And there's this one girl who... I don't know, I guess I don't like her that much." I glanced at Sophie who nodded her head, encouraging me to continue.

"I mean, we got grouped together in this subject and she pretty much shot everyone's idea down while filing her nails. Who does _that_? Filing their nails in class, I mean. And she pretty much dressed like she was getting ready for a photo shoot!"

"Could her name be, I don't know... Elise?"

I looked at her in curiosity. "I think someone called her that... But the teacher called her Elizabeth something."

"Knight?" Sophie offered.

"How'd you know?"

She shrugged. "Everyone knows her," she replied dryly, picking at her cuticles. "She's the most popular girl in our grade."

_Just my luck._

"She can be cool, I guess. Once she starts to have human feelings..."

"What?"

Sophie sighed and gave me a pointed look. "She's part of this little quintet that most people call 'The Elites.' Th—"

"They call themselves that? _Why?_"

"Uh-uh, that's what everyone calls them because they're an exclusive bunch. I don't think they've had another one join their annoying group since... two years or so? " She explained, then sighed again. "The name 'The She-Dogs are better, though."

"How come?" I asked, even though I already had a feeling why.

Sophie at me to come closer. I leaned in and she whispered into my ear, "They're the most popular, but the meanest too." She paused for a second, her warm breath tickling my ear, then continued, "They've got a nice side, but I say don't trust them; no matter how popular, they're not worth it."

I nodded as I thought about Rica from lunch. _So the Elise girl is like an Olympian, Rica the minor god, and us... the "puny mortal"? _Made sense somehow.

Sophie started to launch into a rant about how they weren't worth it, when a shrill "Goodland!" interrupted her. We both looked up and saw a pretty girl with wavy dirty blonde hair and almond-shaped aqua eyes glaring down at us as if we did some major offense to her. Only then did I realize that she was the Elise we were talking about.

"What's up?" Sophie's voice was coated in calmness and cheerfulness, but it wasn't enough to cover the bitterness underneath it.

Elise crossed her tan arms over chests and transferred her weight to her left foot as she seized Sophie up. "Your bag was in the way." She said slowly as if she was talking to a five-year-old.

"Um... sorry."

Elise snorted. "I could've almost tripped!"

"Maybe you should stop wearing those heels," Sophie suggested. "Aren't you too young to wear those? Leave them to your mom."

"Maybe_ you _should stop buying dark bags!" Elise shot back, kicking Sophie's black and purple messenger bag with her foot. It slid towards us and hit the wall with a loud thud. I gave her a hard look, finding her argument invalid. "Here's a tip: start buying clothes as bright as yours, Soph. If you place bags like these on the floor during the night, you could endanger someone! Just make sure that the bag you buy has more style than your clothes, though."

I snuck a glance at Sophie clothes. Purple, white, and blue blinded me. So Elise didn't like Sophie's choice of colors, big deal. What was her problem?

"Stop making a big deal out of it, Elise," I interrupted. From the corner of my eye, I saw Sophie nodding like a bobble head. "You could've just went around it."

Elise's glossy mouth curved into a frown, then back into a smirk. "Maybe you should start wearing what your friend... ah, Allie, is wearing. Not exactly the best, but it's okay."

My eyes twitched in annoyance, but I was able to smoothly say, "It's Alodia."

"Really? Your brother calls you that."

"Why don't you just leave?" Sophie grumbled. "Nobody wanted to talk to you in the first place."

Elise arched an eyebrow at her, and said, "Whatever. Just make sure not to blind anyone with your clothes, Sophie!" She let out a laugh as she walked away, her heels _click-clacking _against the floor.

_Who wears heels in seventh grade? _I wondered just as Apollo materialized beside me.

"What's up? Oh, hey, Sophie!" He exclaimed brightly.

"Bye, Sophie," I corrected him, scooping my Jansport and dragging Apollo away.

"Uh, what did I miss?" He asked, wriggling away from my grip.

"Me thinking of leaving you already."

"Glad you didn't," he mumbled.

As we went down the staircases, I replayed my conversation with Sophie, then hers and Elise's.

_She's an Aphrodite alright, _I thought bitterly. _A really sick one at that._

I can't wait for this punishment to be over!

* * *

><p>Honestly, I don't think this was my best chapter, but what do you think? Leave comments on the new cover too!<p> 


	6. Modifications

6th chapter- enjoy!

Since I'm having major writer's block for the other stories I should be working on, I just decided to work on this one. This part should've been in the previous chapter, but I thought it would be way too long.

Thank you so very much to **Otakugirl 13, hikarinyx, xXAwesomeSauceXx, Cougar rolypoly bug, TheOneRing.001, eOlympus, GavrocheLesMis, **and _Guest_ for reviewing. Stay loving and keep on reading.

Thanks also for the Favorites and Alerts. :3

* * *

><p>Modifications<p>

**APOLLO'S POV**

"Remind me _never_ to ride a taxi as seventh graders!"

"We should just walk starting tomorrow," I agreed, nodding for emphasis. I entered the hotel suite and closed the door behind me, hoping the visitors would hear less of the loud complaints.

"Why didn't Zeus just make us into high school students?" Artemis complained, flipping all of the light switches on. "What age do the mortals start to drive? Sixteen? Seventeen? You have a car, for gods' sake!"

"Sixteen," I replied warily and winced as Artemis continued to stomp around and rant about the taxi driver earlier.

It was rare thing for people to see Artemis complaining and stomping around like Hera when she found out that Zeus had another woman in his life, but I guess that's what happens when you argue with a taxi driver for more than fifteen minutes. I'm just happy I'm not the target of her anger this time.

After school, we tried to hail a taxi (easier said than done), which took about twenty-five minutes. When we were finally able to, the driver of the taxi refused to give us a ride when he found out we had no guardian accompanying us and that the destination was a hotel, thinking that we ran away from home or was about to. After a hopeless exchange between Artemis and the driver (and some sighs and hums from me), we decided to call a different taxi.

This taxi driver was easier to convince, probably because of bribing him by yours truly, but we encountered a new problem. It wasn't with the driver but _what _he was driving. Sure, it was the usual taxi you'd see in New York, but the inside was dirtier than the thoughts of Aphrodite. The inside smelled like stale pizzas and cigarettes, and dirty clothes were strewn over the floor along with some garbage. If you asked me, whoever hired the guy should've fired him a long time ago.

Artemis wanted out the second she saw the mess, but it was getting late and we already gave the money to the guy, so we had no choice to ride the filthy taxi. I'm pretty sure that after that experience, Artemis was even more convinced that men were filthier than pigs.

After three more minutes of ranting, Artemis finally flopped down the couch in the living room and sighed, looking up at the ceiling as if asking Zeus why her.

"Ugh," Artemis groaned, "this... sucks."

I wish I had a recorder; I think this was the first time hearing her say the word "sucks." Who knows? If I sent this to Hephaestus, he might broadcast my sister's meltdown on Hephaestus TV.

"What sucks?" I asked, rummaging the fridge for some food.

"This punishment!"

"Really?" I arched an eyebrow at her, coming out with one Cherry Coke and a bottle of Evian water. "You seemed to have fun with that Sophie girl in school. Here." I handed her the Evian water which she took gratefully.

"A punishment is a punishment."

I shrugged in response and opened my Coke. As I started to drink it, something red and shiny came out from the corner of my eye.

I hurried to the TV and quickly grabbed the red gift sitting on top of it as if I was in some Macy's sale. I lifted it up and down, trying to figure out what it was without peeling of the wrapping paper. It was somewhat heavy and had a smooth surface just like a... could it be?

"What's that?" Artemis asked curiously, leaning forward.

I looked at her like crazy. First she wasn't excited about living in the Carlton Hotel and now she didn't know a laptop when she saw it! Was she still living in Ancient Greece?

"It's a laptop!"

"Oh. I thought it was a present you brought along from your girlfriend." Artemis replied calmly, like she didn't have a meltdown after a horrible experience riding Pig's Pen Taxi Express.

I looked down at the laptop. Okay, so she _did_ have a point—the gift was completely wrapped in shiny red, the symbol of Hephaestus etched in the front of the white card that was taped in the middle of the gift. It was possible that it wouldn't be a laptop, but what else would feel like this?

"It looks like it's from Hephaestus," I said, flicking the white card.

"Gimme," Artemis said, wriggling her fingers. I rolled my eyes but gave the gift to her.

She detached the card and flipped it open, her eyes scanning whatever was written inside of it. "Huh," she mumbled. "Still prefers to write in Greek, huh?"

"What does it say?"

"'Zeus thought that it would be helpful to the two of you if you had this,'" Artemis read aloud. "While Athena thinks this Mac might—'"

"I knew it!"

"—Ssh! 'Athena thinks this Mac might distract you at some point, she thought it was a good idea since this is the twenty-first century after all and kids these days could find help through the use of technology if they knew how to discipline themselves and manage their time wisely. Her words not mine; she forced me to write that to give you two a reminder of some sort. Anyway, Zeus says that if you two behave well during your punishment, one of you can have this. Don't fight over it, Hera said. You better take care of this, Apollo and Artemis. I made some modifications. Signed, Hephaestus.'"

Artemis closed the card and flung it to the coffee table. "Hey!" I protested, grabbing the Mac as I stepped away from the table. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened.

"That's weird," I mumbled. Usually, Hephaestus liked to add some "flair" to the letters he gave. He would put some wires or something that'll make the letter explode after reading or some marshmallow-scented confetti (only when you're lucky or if he likes you) would pop out when the reader opened the letter.

"I think it is better that nothing happened," Artemis told me. "Remember what happened when—"

"Yeah, yeah, no need to remind me." I cut her off. "Let's just open this, okay?"

"We better. We still have that homework to finish in Math and it looks hard."

I nodded—but not because of the Math homework—and tore the shiny paper to shreds like a little kid during Christmas. Artemis pulled the Mac from my grasp to inspect it.

"Nice," she said. She opened the laptop and started to push some buttons until it whirred to life.

I opened my mouth to tell her to stop messing with _my_ Mac when a loud explosion came out of it, making Arty and me yelp in surprise.

"Oh my gods!" Artemis screeched, pointing at the screen. "Hephaestus, what kind of modification is this?"

Afraid that Hephaestus made the screen come alive or pink or triangular, I hurried to my sister's side and found something... more disturbing.

The screen was all black, with the god's head spinning around. Under it were the words, "Loading. Please wait!" and the Omega symbol to the left and right of the words.

_Knock, knock, knock! _

"Wow..." I mumbled then went to answer the door. When I opened it, I was met with a middle-aged man, his green eyes full of concern.

"Everything okay, young man?" He asked in a gruff voice, craning his neck to see what was going on behind me. "My son and I heard an explosion coming from this room then—"

"No, no," I waved the suggestion away, "we're all okay in here. Thanks for your concern, Sir, but we were just, uh, watching something. The volume was on way too high and my sister gets easily surprised so, uh, yeah. Thanks for your concern again!" I gave him a sheepish grin, hoping to wipe the suspicious look off his face. Then I slammed the door.

"Ugh, what was Hephaestus thinking?" I demanded, walking towards my sister. "Seriously, we live in a hotel and—Demeter?" I stared at the screen, wondering why my sister was video chatting with the gods.

"This is another modification, I assume?" Artemis hissed, glaring at Hephaestus.

"Yes!" Hera replied a little too eagerly. "Did you like the explosion? That was my idea."

"Really, Hera? I never knew," I grumbled.

"So how was the first day of school?" Athena interrupted. I flashed a grateful smile at her and she smiled back.

"Oh, it was alright." Artemis replied in a soft voice.

"Made any new friends?" Hermes asked me, giving me a wink.

I laughed out loud as soon as I understood what he meant. "Eh, no. Not yet anyway."

"Hmm..." Hermes smiled at Aphrodite who frowned in return. "Careful, Aphro, you could get some frown lines!"

"Don't call me that!" Aphrodite growled. She leaned in towards their own computer screen and squinted at Artemis. Specifically her shirt. "What is that on your shirt?"

"Uh, nothing," Artemis quickly covered it with her hand. "Just a stain."

I glanced at Artemis and realized that she was talking about the stain on the shirt they bought in DKNY. To be honest, the stain was gross—it pretty much looked like poo. I wasn't sure where she got it, but she had the stain since after recess. Unfortunately for her, she had no jacket and it was just above her right breast so a lot of people would see.

"It looks like poo."

"Well, it's not," Artemis insisted, blushing.

"Then what is it?"

"None of your business." Artemis focused her attention on Zeus. "Father, may I ask why we are... ah, video chatting?"

"Hey, we're not yet done talking, Artemis!" Aphrodite chimed in.

"Father...?"

"Don't ignore my girlfriend like that, huntress!" Ares complained.

"Shut up, Ares," Hephaestus grumbled, shifting on his throne. "She's not your girlfriend."

"Right," Ares spat, "and you think your marriage is going great."

Something flashed in Hephaestus's eyes as he stood up. It looked like he wanted to chuck Ares off Mt. Olympus.

"QUIET!" Hera bellowed, still managing to look ladylike at the same time. She turned to her husband, who was massaging his temples. "You were saying, dear?"

Zeus sighed and nodded his thanks. "Well, Artemis, what's wrong with video-chatting with my children? I thought I told you we'd be getting updates from you."

"Through IMs!"

"Yeah, and you told us too gods can see everything from Mt. Olympus,"

"If there is no communication in the family, it will be bad." Hera announced, giving me a hard look. "If we don't talk to you two from time to time, our family will have no bonds."

"We can do that through IMs," I said quietly.

"Oh,_ that_," Hera waved it away like some stinky smell. "Iris Messaging has become a little... uh, choppy, if you will. Statics, lost signals, cut conversations... And so, my son Hephaestus made a really nice change to your Mac... Is that what you call it, Hephaestus, a Mac?"

The god nodded yes, and for the first time ever, I think he was blushing.

"So how are you the boys in your school doing?" Demeter suddenly asked.

"Oh, you know, the usual," Artemis sighed, propping her chin on her fist.

"Have you tried calming them down with cereal?" Demeter suggested, a smile on her face.

Artemis's eyebrows shot up. "How am I going do that? Pelt them?"

"What a silly idea and such a waste of cereal! You feed them, of course."

"Her? Feed boys?" I snorted at the thought.

"Besides, cereal usually makes people more energetic..."

"They could be just hungry! But good point."

A moment passed with no one saying a word

"Ah," Athena coughed. "Any homework?"

"Math."

"Oh!" Athena's grey eyes sparkled at the mention of the subject. "Do you need any help?"

"Don't think so. If we're going to live like this till June, we should learn how to do our homework all by ourselves." Artemis sighed. I was pretty sure she just wanted to get rid of the gods.

"Look," Artemis said, "we seriously need to go. You know with Math and all. And don't you guys have any... godly business to attend to?"

"Oh, yes!" Zeus agreed. "We still need to talk about those clogged toilets in the public bathroom."

"And my missing hair brush!"

"Aphrodite, nobody cares about your hair brush!"

"I don't care about the clogged toilet either!"

"Weren't you the one who raised this topic in the first place?!"

"My personal belongings are more important!"

And with that, the screen went blank.

I turned to my sister who was shaking her head. "So what did you do? Click on OlympusVideo or something?"

"No and it's not OlympusVideo; it's Gods Online. Anyway after it loaded, the mouse pointer automatically clicked Gods Online."

"Oh."

"I'm going to change now and do the homework, okay?"

I felt my stomach rumbling in protest. "But what about dinner?"

"Later,"

I pouted and parked myself on the couch, chugging my Cherry Coke and glared at the Mac screen.

Right now, I wasn't exactly excited to see the other modifications that Hephaestus made.


	7. Math Problems

7th chapter- enjoy!

Thanks to **Cougar rolypoly bug **and** coralie14 **for reviewing. Stay loving and keep on reading!

Thanks also for the Favorites and Alerts. :3

* * *

><p>Math Problems<p>

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

_3. x= age of son; y= age of dad_

"Mmmm," I yawned and leaned back against my chair, stretching my arms above my head. I turned to glance at the clock placed on the bedside table. 8:00 P.M., it said.

It was getting late and I still wasn't done with homework nor have I eaten dinner.

"Hey, Arty," Apollo called, knocking on my door.

"What?" I was so tired and stressed out I didn't even have the energy to make him stop calling me Arty.

"Are you done with Math?"

I shook my head no, even if he couldn't see me. "No, not yet,"

Silence.

"…Apollo?"

"Huh, what? Yeah, I'm here." Apollo said. "Sorry, I was just thinking of something. Can I come in? Your door's locked."

I let out a sigh and yawned again. "Are you even done with the homework?"

The answer came quick. "Yeah."

"Huh?"

"I'm done," Apollo replied, sounding miffed for some reason.

"I heard you... It's just..." I shook my head again.

"Are you having a hard time?" Apollo started knocking softly on the door again.

I rolled my eyes. "...Yes..." I admitted. I waited for him to start bragging how it was easy for him, but his reply caught me off guard.

"Me too. Especially the last number!"

"Number five?" I called out, trying to hide the surprise in my voice.

"Yeah, that's it. I answered it but I'm not so sure. What number are you doing right now?"

"Uh..." I glanced at my messy paper, thinking that maybe I should rewrite my answers on a new one. "Number three," I said hesitantly.

"_Just_ number three?" Now, _he_ didn't seem too concerned in hiding the surprise from his voice.

"No." I grumbled. "I skipped three and five. I'm already done with the rest."

"Oh." Apollo stopped knocking. "You want me to help?"

I blinked. "No, it's okay..."

"You sure? Because I—"

"I'm okay!" I insisted, trying to control my annoyance. Apollo mumbled something, but it was too soft for me to hear it. "What? I can't hear you!"

"I said," Apollo sighed, "I'll be getting dinner, if you want, so you won't be tired!"

What was up with Apollo tonight? He wasn't always this... helpful. Did he want something from me? "Okay... if it's alright with you, I mean."

"Hmm, 'kay. Any food would be good?"

"Sure," I replied, my suspicion growing.

"Mm-hmm. I'll just call you, okay?"

"Alright."

"Uh, have fun doing Math?"

"I'll try," I snickered. I stared at my paper blankly until the sound of his footsteps disappeared.

I shook my head again as I concentrated on the set of problems. Maybe he was just trying to be nice; after all, we're going to have to put with each other for a long while.

_CLANG! BANG!_

"Owww!" Apollo complained loudly.

And maybe I should have accepted Athena's offer to help me so I wouldn't have to help _him_.

"Aw, sheesh," Apollo complained again. "It wasn't _this_ hard when I was cooking for Anastasia!

I sighed and got up, walking to the door. "Hey, Apollo," I called out as I shuffled out of the room, "need help?"

oo00oo

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

"Alright, everyone," our Math teacher, Ms. Ashford, said brightly, "ready for the quiz?"

A few nodded yes, most groaned and complained, while the rest remained silent. I was one of the silent ones.

"Teacher," someone groaned, "give us another exercise!"

"Yeah," chorused the students.

"Come on, you guys," the boy who first talked to us yesterday grumbled. I think his name was Michael. "We should do it now so it'll be over!" A few nodded in agreement.

"No way! And besides, we have new students! Do the exercises for the new students too, Miss!"

Michael rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay, fine!" Ms. Ashford rolled her brown eyes in mock annoyance. Despite what most people think about Math teachers, Ms. Ashford was nice and funny... once you get past her somewhat sarcastic persona. Nevertheless, everyone seemed to like her. "I'll give you some more problems, and then it's on with the quiz! I'll just use the points from this activity as extra credit..." She walked over to teacher's table and started flipping through her little notebook.

"But since I already gave you a lot of examples, a seatwork, and homework, I'll only be giving you three. Write this in a one-half sheet of paper." She started writing the first problem on the board, but paused to look at us. "This better not happen again, alright, class? If you really don't understand it, just approach me."

"Yes, Ms. Ashford,"

I whispered some complaints as I fished out a piece of one-half out of my bag. I had to agree with Michael—it was better to get the quiz over it.

As I waited for the teacher to finish writing, I side-glanced at Elise, who was sitting near the sliding windows. She was quiet the whole time, and right now her face seemed to be a mix of relief and agitation. I wasn't exactly sure why glanced at her, but I guess I just felt curious.

I rolled my eyes at the excuse as I started to jot down my answers. Then, as if it was so soon, the quiz started.

"That was pretty hard," Christina Red, who was my seatmate, whispered after the quiz ended.

I nodded my head in understanding. All around me, the students were asking each other their answer to number this and number that while the more confident ones were supplying them with the answers.

And apparently, my brother was one of the suppliers.

"Hey," I tapped his shoulder. "You found the quiz easy?"

He broke away from his conversation with Rick to nod at me. "It was. You?"

I shook my head no. "Some were hard." I paused for a moment, thinking. "Since when were you good at Math?"

I wasn't exactly sure, but I thought I saw a flash of something—was it hurt?—in his face. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, so I shook the thought from my head.

"Hey, I'm the god of intelligence too, remember?" Apollo reminded me softly, giving me a small smile. "Who knows? Maybe I'd become as wise as Athena!"

I snorted at the thought that my brother would replace Athena as the god of wisdom. "Be careful," I joked, "remember what happened when the Romans came?"

"Ooohhh yeah," Apollo cringed at the thought. "It wasn't pretty."

I giggled in agreement just as Ms. Ashford announced, "Joshua will be handing out your homework from yesterday. See you tomorrow class." She smiled good bye and left.

"Here ya go," Joshua stared at something written on the paper before giving it to me.

"Thanks," I smiled at him and snatched the paper out of his hands. _Mind your own paper!_

I frowned when I saw the score. There were five problems, three points per each. I only got the three questions right. I _failed_ by _two_ points.

I frowned even more when Apollo turned around and gave me a huge smile. "I almost got perfect," he laughed. "My only mistake was number five."

"Oh, yeah? Good for you."

"Something wrong, sis?"

"My score."

I was feeling a little upset that I didn't take up Athena's offer for help. And _now_, I was regretting not saying yes to Apollo too.

* * *

><p>MARK OF ATHENA WAS AWESOME!<p> 


	8. The Elites

8th chapter- enjoy!

What's up, guys? I'm having a headache just trying to find a good way to introduce the Elites to all of you... while I'm in the beach. Have a happy New Year!

Thanks to **Pettiib, Cougar rolypoly bug, Hope-Hikari, Pump up the Music, **_Guest,_ and** Otakugirl 13** for reviewing. Stay loving and keep on reading!

Thanks for the Favorites and Alerts, you guys. I really appreciate it. :3

Sadly, I do not own PJO. But I do own my OCs. :):

* * *

><p>The Elites<p>

**THIRD PERSON'S POV**

Elizabeth Knight glared down at the black-painted tips of her nails in annoyance. Slowly, she lifted her head, her aqua eyes darting around the cafeteria.

"Where _are_ they?"

Their table, Table 23, was situated at the center back of the room, and Elise being the one who sat at the head, always saw what was going on in the cafeteria. But today, she still couldn't see what she wanted to see...

"They'll be here, don't worry about it, Elise." Ella Franklin assured her, although she looked anxious herself.

"I know that!" Elise spat. "The problem here is that we've been waiting. Where are they?"

...Namely, her friends.

Ella merely gulped, not sure what else to do. Nobody liked an impatient Elizabeth Knight. _Nobody._

So maybe Elise was overacting. Maybe it was because when Ella waited outside Elise's classroom, she was the only one there—which was something Elise wasn't used to. They waited for a few minutes, but none of them appeared so the pair went to their other friends' respective classrooms in search of them. Apparently, Brittain's class was still in the library, while Mackenzie and Dominique's whereabouts were unknown to their classmates.

_Sigh._

Ella glanced down at her tray of food, her hand hovering above her small plate of fries. She wondered if it was okay to eat it now or wait for the others to arrive. Well, Elise certainly wasn't eating... should she follow? Her stomach grumbled in response, which seemed to make up Ella's mind. She snatched a fry from the plate and slowly munched on it, looking at her friend carefully.

Her eyes didn't seem to be darting around anymore. Instead, they were intently trained on something else. Ella followed her gaze, and caught sight of her other friends slinking through the crowd, doing their best to balance their tray of food (minus Brittain, who was bringing her bagged lunch) as they locked their designer-clad arms together.

"Well, look who finally decided to join us," Elise said coolly, as if she wasn't freaking out how the others weren't with them ever since the lunch bell rang. She eyed her friends as they pulled back their chairs and placed their trays and bagged lunch on the table.

"Sorry," Brittain Hamilton lifted her shoulders into a shrug, nabbing the seat to Elise's right. "I was still in the library. You know how Sir Erik can be." She added as she opened her Marie Turnor paper bag clutch and peeked in. Then, she pulled out a container full of dark meat and carrots and another one filled with mash potato.

Mackenzie Maxwell shot an ice-blue colored glare at the container, like it made some major personal offense to her. "I can't believe you're using that Marie Turnor as a _lunch bag_!"

Brittain chose to ignore her, wrinkling her nose at the dry mash potato instead. "Well, it _looks_ like a paper bag," she said moments later.

"That's the point!" Mackenzie huffed. "It's supposed to look practical and chic at the same time!"

Brittain snorted as she laced her arms behind the back of her chair, eyeing Mackenzie quizzically with her dark eyes. "So a paper bag's supposed to look chic?" Elise snickered at the comment, resisting the urge to high-five her friend. Leave it to Brittain to make someone look stupid. "Besides, this bag has been lying around Mom's closet for ages and she only used it once, so she just gave it to me. I just asked Inez to put my lunch in here." She finished with a shrug, twirling a long strand of her straight plum-colored hair. "And this clutch looks way better than that ugly green lunch box I carry, anyway. The green color clashes with practically everything."

"Nice," Dominique Samson grinned. "Saving the environment and looking good at the same time." She reached across the table and raised her pale hand for a high-five. Brittain slapped it with a giggle.

"Why? Trying to get the attention of a certain someone?" Elise joined in, smirking. Pretending to be her friend, she cupped her hands around her widened eyes as she searched the crowded space for Casper Reynolds, Brittain's latest crush. "Because you and I both know that you aren't the type to use a designer clutch as a lunch bag… It's more like Ella's type of thing."

"Hey!"

"Please," Brittain rolled her eyes. "I don't need to suck up to a crush."

"'Cause you're pretty enough for them to suck up to you?" Dominique asked innocently.

"You said it, not me."

"And I think Casper's weird!" Dominique added with a bold toss of her platinum blonde hair. "He's so into nature it's abnormal."

"If you're really as smart as they say, then I suggest you shut up!" Brittain hissed playfully. But from the way her usually fair cheeks were slowly becoming pink, you could tell she didn't like that one trait of Casper.

The girls started laughing, and even Ella, who was still wondering about Elise's comment, joined in. Elise, Brittain, Mackenzie, Dominique, and Ella—or collectively known as the Elites—would usually spend their lunch time exchanging some gossip, crush sightings, and the occasional playful put downs. Or if not, they would eat lunch _or _put down other people instead (and not in a playful manner either). Speaking of making fun of other people...

"Oh my gosh, stop, stop!" Mackenzie managed to say in between her fits of laughter. "Looks like Jackie is still confused as to where to buy her clothes."

"Huh?" Elise followed Mackenzie's line of vision and caught sight of the passing eighth grader named Jackie, who as usual, was wearing an ensemble that looked like it came from the boy's section. "I don't think_ Jack _is confused as to where to buy the clothes, Mackenzie." With her blonde pixie cut, boyish clothes, and attitude it was no wonder why some would mistake the girl to be a boy or why some would call her "Jack" behind her back.

"And her clothes!" Mackenzie groaned. "It's as if she really wants to look like a guy! Where the heck does she buy them?" She tugged her chin-length raven hair in frustration. In the group, she was probably the most girlish and the one most likely to criticize someone's fashion choice, closely followed by Elise and Brittain.

"Mackie, I've seen that girl in sixth grade, and she hasn't changed a bit," Dominique rolled her amber-flecked eyes. "So I guess it's pretty obvious that she wants to look like a guy." "Duh" oozed out of her voice.

"But why would she want to?" Ella asked, her chocolate brown eyes still lingering on Jackie.

"As if I know,"

"You usually do." Ella mumbled, playing with the tips of her reddish-brown hair. _Aw, it's becoming frizzy again._

"And speaking of knowing everything..." Brittain lead away the focus from Jackie to her. (As usual.) "...I need your help iiinnn... Science!"

"As usual," Elise laughed.

"Hey, as if you don't!" Brittain shot back. It was only meant to be as a joke, but with the way Elise's brightly colored eyes turned into a navy blue, she took it seriously.

"Well, whatever," she said slowly, hesitantly even. "So maybe I do need help in Science, but I've got my eyes on a different tutor."

"Who?" Dominique knit her eyebrows, both confused and relieved. _That's one less stubborn girl to handle._

_"Him." _She pointed to the direction of a tall, toned boy with messy blonde hair nabbing a seat at a table off to the side. He suddenly turned around and waved over a smaller girl, his handsome face breaking into a blinding grin.

"Oohh," Brittain giggled, "no wonder. If I didn't have a crush right now, I would _so _go—" She abruptly stopped herself when she noticed Elise raising her eyebrows at her.

"He's really cute, Elise. I think you'd look... uh, good together." Ella would have never said that, but she had to if she wanted to stop Elise from strangling Brittain with her scarf.

Elise nodded. "I've talked to him a few times in class and he's really funny."

"And he's good in Science?" Dominique questioned, looking a little unsure.

"Mm-hmm. He seems to know a lot about the sun."

"What's his name?"

"Andrew Mason or something like that,"

"Mason?" Mackenzie turned to look at Elise. "Isn't he the new kid?"

"Yep," Elise nodded. "Unfortunately, he's like a sweater set. You can never see him with his other half, that annoying twin sister of his."

"Huh," Ella muttered thoughtfully. "I think he's friends with Sophie and her group too." She watched as Sophie walked over to Apollo and Artemis's spot, closely followed by a small group.

Elise recoiled at the mention of the girl's name. "Oh, please," Mackenzie snorted, "Andrew probably got forced by his sister. You said he had a sister right?" Without waiting for a response, she continued. "She looks like the type to hang out with a person like Sophie."

"She is the type," Elise spat. "I saw her hanging out with Sophie days ago outside the room." She recalled her unwanted conversation with Allie—oops, _Alodia_. Just like Sophie, Alodia had enough spunk—or was it stupidity?—to actually look Elise at the eye as she insulted her right back.

"What type?" Ella really couldn't figure out what was wrong with Sophie; she seemed okay. But knowing how shallow Elise could sometimes be, it was probably because of the outfit choices.

"The type that doesn't know what's good for her." And with the final word being said, Elise turned her attention back to her food, with her friends having no choice but to follow suit.


	9. New Friends

9th chapter- enjoy!

Sorry for the late chapter! Can anybody say writer's block? ;) But it's summer now, so I might be able to update fast enough.

Thanks to **coralie14, Hope-Hikari, XDReadingPersonXD, rrfanman, **_Little Chibi, _**sivanool, WaffleLovesCheese23, **and **PokemonandPJO **for reviewing. Stay loving and keep on reading!

Sadly, I do not own PJO but I do own my OCs. :):

* * *

><p>New Friends...<p>

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

"Hey," called out Sophie, "sorry we're late!"

"It's okay," I replied, watching her grab the seat across my brother as the other students that she brought along sat on their respective places.

Sophie had become our usual lunch time buddy for the past week. Most of the excuses she'd give us whenever she'd be late for lunch or didn't show up at all was how something came up and required immediate attention. But it never occurred to me that gathering her friends and leading them to our lunch table was filed under that category.

I watched them curiously as they exchanged laughs and colorful candy. Sophie, who usually ate before doing anything else, was playfully mussing a skinny boy's hair. She caught me staring at them and she shot me a smile before fully letting go of the boy's inky curls. From beside me, Apollo was more focused on finishing his meal. I could tell that he was slightly uncomfortable with the way he kept glancing at the new kids, which actually surprised me a little since he's the better half when it came to socializing. My guess is that he was unprepared when the lunch table that we were used to sharing with only Sophie just got a lot more crowded. Then again, my brother and I are not in the right place to say that they've "crashed" our spot because they probably knew Sophie longer.

One of the twins beside the black haired boy reached over his shoulder to give Sophie a tap. Once she got her attention, the girl jabbed her thumb to the direction of her twin. The second girl then started to talk about some kind of project with the words "longer time," "more paint," and "less blue" being constantly thrown in the conversation.

I had no idea what they were talking about but I really wanted to join in, although I doubt they were going to let me to judging the intensity of their voices. Just as I was about to pull a Houdini, Apollo suddenly blurted out, "Uh, are you guys busy on a project? Because if you are... then sis and I could leave..." For a moment, he looked like the opposite of a social butterfly that he claims to be until his amber eyes brightened. "Oh! Or we can help—"

Sophie's eyes widened as her friends exchanged sheepish glances. "What? No!" She exclaimed, looking bewildered. Her pale cheeks were tainted with pink that was getting darker by the second.

"You... don't want us to help?" Apollo asked, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

"It'll actually be great if you two help. But what I meant was that you two don't have to leave," Sophie corrected him. "I thought it would be nice to introduce you two to them"—she motioned to her friends—"but I just got_ a little_ distracted—"

"I'm Hadley," a brunette sitting at the far end of the table said, cutting off Sophie with a look. "Sorry that we ignored you." She added, shooting us a shy smile. Out of the group, she seemed to be the more reticent one. With her doe brown eyes and hair tightly woven into a braid, she seemed to be the innocent one too.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Apollo assured her, his lips curling to form a smile. "At least we weren't ditched."

I knew that he was joking, of course, but it's not like I could say that to Sophie to stop her from wincing. So instead, I settled to nudge Apollo as I gave Sophie a sorry smile.

"What?" He whispered. "It was a joke."

I rolled my eyes, "She probably didn't know that. And besides, 'Jokes are very serious things.' Winston Churchill."

"I don't know why you had to say that, but okay,"

"Ehem," Sophie coughed. We both looked up to see everyone at the table staring at us curiously which made me wonder if they overheard our short conversation. "Anyway, the reason why I pulled my friends here was to introduce them to you, right?" We both nodded slowly. "And since Hadley already started, I guess it'll be good to start with him." Sophie pinched the boy's cheek, giggling as she did so.

"Hey!" He barked, trying to push Sophie away.

"Meet Drawde Edwards, the puny boy with the really cool name." Sophie laughed, the grin never fading away as she finally pulled back her hand.

_Drawde Edwards, _my mind automatically went to thinking mode. _What's so cool about Draawdee Edwaaardss...? Uh... _My face must've looked funny all scrunched up as I tried to figure out the name. _Since when do I even think about trivial matters such as this one? Trying to figure out why Drawde Edwards is so cool—_"Oh."

"That's pretty funny, man," Apollo crowed. "When you spell 'Edwards' backward without the _S_, it's gonna be the same as the first name!"

"Sophie just wishes she can have the same thing happening to her name," Drawde grumbled as he massaged his reddening cheek. "Unfortunately, not all tormentors can have everything."

A girl at the other end of the table let out a groan. "Aw, c'mon," she protested, jumping into Sophie's defense. "Sophie isn't that bad... if you've only known her for a short while." She gave us a cheeky wink. The girl who spoke had lose caramel curls framing her face that stopped just above her shoulders. She seemed to be your typical pretty-faced girl, but her eyes ruined the image. Those almond-shaped orbs of hers were the features that stood out in her tanned face: they were an eerie, crimson color.

"Alisha Hale, at your service." She extended her right arm towards us, like she wanted to shake hands. Not knowing what to do since we couldn't reach it, I simply smiled and mouthed "Hello" while my brother did the standard what's-up nod. She shrugged, then glanced at Drawde with those red eyes. "How's the cheek?"

"A-Alisha's right," Drawde agreed, his cheeks became redder and I was sure it wasn't because of the pinch. He purposely ignored Alisha altogether, choosing to look at his half-eaten food. "We've known Sophie longer and we've experienced a lot of bad things around her. Me, specifically."

"You're exaggerating," I accused. Boys tend to do that a lot, after all. So maybe girls too, but I don't see Sophie's other girl friend complaining.

"Ha!" Sophie exclaimed in a take-that sort of way. "Looks like you're the only one complaining about me. You really _are_ puny."

"We'll see about that," grinned Drawde, aiming his eyes at me. The dark brown color in his eyes seemed light with humor. "I bet she'll wound up screaming because of the things you'll pull her into."

My cheeks burned. "Well, I've been putting up with this guy for a mille—I mean, for thirteen years. So bring it." I shot back as playfully as I could. At first he struck me as the whiny type but it looked like he had a cheeky side to him, like Apollo.

"Hey!" Apollo butted in. "Don't act as if you're the only one trying to put up with someone from the start of day one!"

Oh, gods. Two cheeky boys in the same circle of friends. How will I be able to survive this? Although... Drawde seems like a decent boy, so I might just fair well. I hope.

"Don't forget about us!" One of the remaining girls chimed in. Ever since the start of the introductions, they've only been watching in fascination.

"Aw, who can ever forget you two?" Sophie tried to wrap the two into a hug, but with Drawde sitting in between, it was impossible. And it didn't seem like he was willing to move either. Rolling her eyes, Sophie continued, "Whatever. Okay, so the first thing you should know about these two are that they're names are Olive and Olivia and they both share the similar surname of Anderson." She pointed in the general direction of the girls. "The second thing that you should know about them is that no matter how much they look alike, they are definitely _not _twins, much less siblings."

We both stared at them, and it took me a second to realize that they were the girls I saw Sophie talking to before we discussed about the Elites. Both of them had the same white blonde hair and full bangs covering their foreheads, making them look younger than they really are. They also shared the same plump cheeks and deep tans and bright smiles. The only clear difference was their eyes: one had big eyes in green while the other had small, hazel ones. They actually looked similar from afar, but since I was closer now, I could tell the difference. It was just one of those cases when you confuse someone for someone else because you just met.

"Before, they didn't look that identical," Sophie added. "I mean, sure, same hair and skin color but that was about it. Olivia used to have curly hair then suddenly, we see her sporting the same hairstyle as Olive. It's like they're pulling our legs. Sometimes they even show up in the same outfits that it gets confusing."

"Well..." I started slowly, "maybe this could be a modern case of _The Prince and the Pauper_."

"Exactly!" Olive—or was it Olivia?—agreed.

"Who're they?" Apollo asked. "Ex-boyfriends, perhaps?"

"You should really read more,"

"I do! I read poetry! Heck, I even write my own."

"I guess that's about it," Sophie grinned in satisfaction, leaning against her chair as she crossed her arms behind her head. "Any questions?"

"Where have you been?"

We all slowly turned and saw a girl glaring at us, trying hard to look menacing despite her petite frame. She was panting slightly but it looked like she didn't even hear of sweat.

"Um, I've been here since lunch," Sophie said, her eyebrows knitted in concern. "Everything alright, Micah?"

She frowned at us, looking at everyone crowding the lunch table. Her gaze lingered on Apollo before turning back to Sophie. "I'm just here to remind you about the cheerleading practice after dismissal today. You know how important the practices are, right?"

"Of course," Sophie nodded. "How could I forget with all the texts you've been sending me and the rest of the team?"

Alisha held back snickers, while Olive and Olivia let out snorts.

An annoyed look crossed Micah's face. "Okay, that's good. See you and don't mess up this time!" She flipped her highlighted hair over her shoulder and sauntered away.

"Cheerleading?" I asked, looking at my friend with wide eyes after watching Micah disappear. "You do cheerleading?"

"Yeah," Sophie sighed, propping her chin on the smooth surface of the table. "Why?"

"Oh. I-It's just... I didn't realize that you were into cheerleading."

"Is it because I'm not popular?" Sophie looked up at me with innocent eyes, but her tone was all business.

"What?" I gasped. "That's not what I meant! I just... You just didn't seem like the type, that's all. Nothing to do with being... popular or anything." I added the last part so quietly it seemed like I was talking to myself.

Sophie chuckled softly, sitting up straight. A moment ago, she was all fun and games, but now she looked the opposite of it."You see, Alodia and Andrew, just because you're a cheerleader or a sports player or whatever doesn't mean you get automatic popularity points. That's not how we do it here. If you want to become like _those people _then you have to do something that'll leave a mark in this school. Not that I'm interested in figuring out what made them popular."

She paused to take off the varsity jacket she was wearing. She flipped it to its back and pointed at the bottom. There, against the sky blue background were the words CHEERLEADING VARSITY in white letters lined with silver glitter. "Just because someone has this doesn't mean she's already popular."

"Oh, um..." I fumbled for something to say, but my throat was unusually dry. I reached for my bottle of water but as soon as I got it, I realized it was already empty. Thank the gods Apollo came to my rescue. I think.

"That's a cool jacket! You think I can get one?"

Sophie blinked at him and then grinned. "Only if you join a sports club and pass the varsity auditions."

"Actually, I am joining a club: basketball. And I'm a pretty good at it, if I do say myself." Apollo boasted.

"I'm in the club too!" Hadley piped in. "Or at least, the girls' basketball club. It's really fun. Sometimes, we even play against the boys' team."

"Are you going to be doing something after school, Alodia?" Sophie asked me, leaving Hadley and Apollo to talk more about the sport.

"I'll just stay here to wait for my brother. I didn't bother joining a club." _Because I need to focus on how we can end this punishment soon, _I added mentally.

"Can we hang out after I'm done with practice? We can wait for your brother in the gym." I nodded. "That's great! Maybe then I could teach you more about the inner workings of this school."

"Huh?"

"Just kidding," she stuck her tongue out playfully.

And after that, the cheerful conversations slowly but surely resumed, with Apollo the center of it all. Sophie didn't seem like she wanted to talk anymore so we let her be. Sophie's chin was propped on her palm and she seemed to be deep in thought, her eyes focused on something faraway. I turned around, following her gaze and saw that she looking at a table at the back, farthest from the entrance—the Elite's table. At the head was, of course, Elise Knight chatting to four other people. She broke away and looked up just in time for her to see Sophie and me staring. We all stared at each other for a moment and no one dared to look away. I thought I saw a sad expression in Elise's face but before I could confirm it, Elise's blonde friend captured her attention.

With a sigh, I turned back to my new-found friends, with only one thing in my mind: What did make the Elites popular? But just like what Sophie said, what was so interesting about figuring that out?

* * *

><p>The next chapter will be a continuation to this one, only it will be in a different title. Sorry if I missed anything in my extra quick re-reading, I just have to go somewhere in, like, two minutes so I'll re-edit any missed stuff tomorrow.<p>

Any comments, suggestions, or violent reactions? If so, you know what to do.


	10. New Enemies?

10th chapter- enjoy!

So this is the tenth chapter/continuation of the previous chapter. Can you believe we're already on the two-digit chapter numbers?

Thank you very much to** PokemonandPJO, bookwormultimate,** and** rrfanman** for reviewing. Stay loving and keep on reading!

Thanks for the Favorites and Alerts. :3

Sadly, I do not own PJO but I do own my OCs. :):

* * *

><p>...New Enemies?<p>

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

"Go Andrew!" Sophie cheered, her excited voice bouncing off the painted walls of the gym.

I simply sighed as my eyes followed the direction of the ball that my brothers threw. It made a perfect arc above the players, quickly sailing into the net with a _whoosh_. Another three points for my brother's team.

"Wow. Your brother wasn't kidding when he said he was good, huh?" Sophie broke away from the game to face me for a moment. As she did, sounds of palms slapping could be heard as the club instructor announced that Andrew's team was in the lead. Immediately, words of encouragement were spoken for the opposing team as the game resumed.

"He wasn't," I confirmed, leaning forward. With the eye of an expert hunter, I caught sight one of Apollo's teammates committing an offense as he tried to run to the other side of the court. A whistle was blown a heartbeat later.

Sophie snapped back to attention. "What happened? What did he do?" She pointed at Apollo's teammate who was scratching the nape of his neck irritably when the instructor approached him.

"Travelling," I replied in a bored manner.

"What's wrong with that?"

I gave her a puzzled look. "Travelling is an offense."

"Oh... Oh, right!" She averted her gaze, only to look at me a second later with a sheepish smile. "And, um, what's that?"

"It's when you take more than two steps without dribbling that ball." I explained through a patient smile. "I thought you watched basketball."

"Sometimes, but I'm not familiar with the terms," she admitted.

I nodded in understanding. "That'll probably be the same case for me if only I didn't sit through Andrew's games."

Sophie nodded back and then faced front to watch the game again. I leaned back, letting my back rest against the cool, metal edge of the dark blue bleacher, my arms dangling beside me. I glanced up at the high ceiling of the gym which stopped at the top of the second floor.

The gym, by the way, was like a three-story sports complex. Literally. In the first floor was the basketball court, complete with the shiny floorboards and metal bleachers, just like what I mentioned. Located in the second floor were more bleachers (cement, this time and painted alternately blue and white) and small badminton courts off to the side. The third floor was solely dedicated for runners, having only a track and field oval with fake grass surrounding it (and the bleachers—you mustn't forget the bleachers). Sophie toured me around the gym after meeting up, and she also showed me the swimming pool and the volleyball court (both beside the gym) before settling to watch Apollo's first ever club meeting.

But to be honest, when Sophie asked me earlier to hang out with her, my mind was filled with images of the typical "girl talks" or maybe even "gossip trades," reading books in the library, or eating in the cafeteria. You know, those mortal stuff. So I wasn't exactly thrilled beyond thrilled when Sophie lead me here. Hence the boredom.

It was a little fun, though. From time to time Sophie would blurt out jokes and share Skittles left over from lunch and Coke she brought from home. But really, not even sugary snacks can keep me from yawning.

Another sound of the shrill whistle piercing the air jostled me awake. My eyes popped open and I did a little squeak like someone did a surprise attack from behind.

Sophie peered over her shoulder and laughed. "Wakey, wakey Sleeiping Beauty. The game's over; it's the girls' time to shine."

I sat up straight and did some shoulder rotations to awaken my numb shoulders. Wincing a little, I checked my surroundings. The crowd of boys running around the court was thinning out, flocking over to the bleachers across the ones beside us to talk with their instructor. The girls' team, who were intently watching the game a while ago in the corner, were now jogging to the court to take center stage.

"Hadley!" Sophie sang over the sound of squeaking sneakers. "Hadley!"

The brunette turned to face us, her braided hair whipping over her jersey-clad shoulder. She grinned and waved.

"Have fun!" I called out, cupping my hands around my mouth.

Her grin grew wider before turning her back. From beside me, I felt Sophie abruptly stop waving. Tearing my gaze away from the team, I eyed her. "Is something wrong?"

"It's them,"

_Them? _I followed to where she was pointing at and my eyes landed on the Elites, entering in all their snobby, elite glory.

"I sometimes spot them here," she continued to say, "but when I didn't see them when we came in, I thought their flirt fest got canceled. Guess they were just late." She finished with a sigh.

"Flirt fest, eh?" I watched as Elise singled out a shaggy older blonde near the edge of the court. He was too busy drinking his red Gatorade to actually notice the girl parting from her friends to go over to him. _The poor boy, _I thought sadly.

He may have been a boy, but no man deserves to be pounced on by a girl as selfish and vain as Elise. My heart goes out to him. I looked away from the now laughing duo, wanting to focus on the more important things.

"Ignore them," I instructed Sophie. "Let's just watch Hadley practice." Sophie nodded in agreement.

But it was hard to, as we learned a few minutes later.

We cheered Hadley on as she dribbled her way to the other side of the court. Two thickly-built girls ran up to her, one on each side. It was obvious they were trying to block her. Hadley desperately twisted her neck around, sending telepathic distress calls to her teammates. But as she did so, she stepped on her own tied shoelaces, letting the white laces loose free. She immediately stumbled on them and her arms started flailing as she tried to retain her balance. However, despite all the efforts, she went down with a _thud_, the ball flying out of her hands.

The good news? Hadley didn't seem to be hurt.

The bad news? The ball was heading straight for the boy and Elise.

It was already too late for anyone to do anything so we all watched in horror and awe as the ball smacked the boy square on his arms, the Gatorade in his hand spilling over. Half of the red liquid splattered his jersey, half-soaked Elise.

At first, no one dared to make a sound. Elise stood there, unblinking as the boy opened and closed his mouth in surprise. Then, as if someone hit the volume control button, almost everyone started to laugh hysterically; I could even hear pig-like snorts. Some chose to snicker softly instead, while a few weren't laughing at all. Sophie, me, the instructors, select teammates from the girls' team, and Hadley—_especially_ Hadley—were under the latter part.

"Oh, boy," Sophie muttered under her breath.

We both watched, helpless, as Elise stomped her way to Hadley. Our friend, who was helped up by one of the thickly-built girls earlier, looked like she was about to stumble again when realized that Elise and her friends were ganging up on her. The rest of the Elites stood behind the fuming Elise, arms crossed and eyes ablaze, as she started to shout ego-bruising comments at the poor Hadley. Her perfect little features sorted themselves into an angry, disoriented expression that even Medusa would run away from.

"Hey, Elise," a boy sneered, "is today the day that you have it? Because you sure are making a scene!" The boys around burst into another round of hysterics, and I was sure that Apollo would suffer from lack of oxygen.

But the boy _was_ right. With the way the red drink soaked Elise's white jeans, you'd think that she had an, um, _unfortunate_ stain due to her womanly business.

One of the instructors and the blonde haired boy finally had the right mind to stop Elise, but even with their combined muscular strength, they couldn't move Elise from her spot.

"It's so surprising that you're in this club when you're more uncoordinated than your friend Sophie's clothes," she spat. "Why did you even join? No wonder you're not varsity."

_"Ms. Knight!"_

"I'm sorry! I-I-It was just an accident..." Hadley's voice was a half-squeak, half-whine.

"That's it," Sophie narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "I'm going in."

She made her way over to the crowd and wasted no time in telling off Elise. But as expected, the brat became more violent. She pushed Sophie hard, telling her to back off. Sophie retaliated and jabbed Elise's clavicle, saying that it was _she _who needed to back off. I found myself heading towards them with much determination to stop them before this turned into a full-fledged fight. A series of one-liners ran inside my head, but even before I could decide on what to say, I already inserted myself between Sophie and Elise.

Elise's eyes widened in surprise. They were usually a pretty aqua color, but strangely, they were a navy blue now. "What do you want?" she finally said. "Did you come here to embarrass yourself too?"

"Oh, don't worry." I assured her, my voice surprisingly calm and clear. This was just like having one of my arguments with Aphrodite, I realized. "This won't take too long. I just have one question for you."

"Oh, really? This should be interesting." She smirked, and her friends felt obliged to giggle.

"So." I took a deep breath and made sure to look straight into her eyes. "Elise, are you a dengue mosquito?"

"No, why?" She looked confused.

"Then why are you making me sick?"

Stunned silence.

Before anyone else could react, I hurriedly turned to Hadley. "Everything okay?" She nodded quickly. "Good." Then I looked over and glared at Elise. "And by the way, it's the truth. I may be new here, but I can already feel that everyone's sick of you."

And with that, I grabbed Sophie's hand and ran as fast as I could, the sound of silence acting as our escape music.

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><p>Any comments, suggestions, or violent reactions? If so, you know what to do.<p> 


	11. Making a Scene

11th chapter- enjoy!

And after my week-long vacation, I am ready to write! And would you look at that? It's been two years since I put this up. Yey!

I'd like to thank **rrfanman, PokemonandPJO, XDReadingPersonXD, miramisa90212, **and** Hope-Hikari **for reviewing. Stay loving and keep on reading! Ooh, ninety-seven reviews? I can feel _so much_ love... Hehe.

Tnx for the Favorites and Alerts! :3

Sadly, I do not own PJO but I do own my OCs. :):

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><p>Making a Scene<p>

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

If Sophie didn't start to pull me back, we would've probably been hit by a car. An exaggeration, of course, but it was the perfect description to show how completely oblivious I was of my surroundings.

"That was, like, _the_ best diss I've ever seen! Which is saying a lot, since not most people do that to her. I mean, the most my friends say is 'Stupid effing brat' and that's usually behind her back! And... Alodia, are you okay?" Sophie stopped her excited babbling when she noticed how quiet I was.

I hesitated to reply, my eyes searching the ground as if I would be able to spot to the answer scratched on the stone. To be honest, I wasn't really sure how to respond; there was a confusing mix of emotions brewing in the pit of my stomach. I found it quite odd, actually, as arguments—and even sabotages—would pop up frequently in Mt. Olympus, and exercising my freedom of speech, I'd join. Sometimes those would end up much _more _than verbal abuse (it only happened once, I swear on the River Styx!). More often than not, when the fight would be over, I'd end up feeling guilty and anxious with a hint of pride. And that's what I'm feeling right now. Only five times multiplied.

I wasn't sure why, though. Was it because I had insulted Elise? Personally, I don't think I should feel guilty. I don't think I should feel anxious. In fact, I shouldn't feel _anything_. So what in Tartarus was making me feel this way?

"I don't know," I finally admitted. "I feel pretty... victorious but there's something else."

Sophie looked at me for a moment, her dark eyebrows scrunched up together. "Ohhh, I know what you're feeling," she started, giving me a friendly pat. "You're feeling nervous because of what you did."

"No," I snorted at the thought of it. But what she said made sense. I just wasn't going to admit it so easily. "I told you I'm happy because I stood up to her!"

"You said there was something else. It's most likely you're scared of what Elise might do later on," Sophie explained. "But no worries, it happens to us kids whenever we go insult someone with a high spot in the social hierarchy." She added this with a roll of her eyes.

I pursed my lips, not entirely convinced. I wasn't a kid and most definitely not a mortal. I'm an Olympian goddess while Elizabeth Knight was simply an egotistical mortal.

"Alodia, listen. Elise, the queen bee—"

"Queen bug, if you will," I interjected.

Sophie smirked. "—had just been insulted by a mere bee worker in her hive. It's only normal for her to act like a raging beast and normal for _you_ to act so worried."

I started laughing at her comparison, but quickly silenced myself when I noticed some onlookers. "Fine, you got me," I gave in, deciding to give Sophie her moment. Everything she said was probably right, but I had a thought that the vulnerable feeling I got was an aftereffect of Hecate's potion. Like it was designed to make me act more mortal than god. I might have to inquire the magic goddess about that.

It was becoming pretty obvious that I did not enjoy feeling like a mortal.

I cleared my throat, side-glancing at my friend. "So what do you want to do now? I am sure that watching the basketball teams practice is not option."

"Well..." Sophie's voice trailed off as she cocked her head thoughtfully, rubbing her stomach. "...I am kind of hungry..."

"Because insulting Elise is hard work?" I joked.

"Please," she scoffed, playing along, "it was you who did most of it."

"True to that," I conceded. "So we go to the cafeteria?"

"What about Andrew?"

I waved the question away. "He's still busy, I'm sure. I can just text him since I bring my phone to school now." I assured her, patting my backpack.

Sophie nodded slowly, like she was considering the idea. Then, with sudden enthusiasm, she blurted out, "Okay! Which cafeteria do you want to go to?"

We were standing on a sidewalk, leaning against the stoned wall to give way to the few people passing by. If we continued our path, we would end up in the grade school building's lobby, where the nearest cafeteria was. It had a lot of food choices, but nothing nearly as good as the ones served in the middle school building.

"The nearest one?" I offered. "They're almost going to close, anyway."

"The grade school cafeteria it is!" Sophie exclaimed. She took me by the hand and began pulling me away. When we reached the building's lobby, we took a shortcut to the cafeteria by going down the stone steps near the end of the hall. Once we reached the base, we took a few turns and walked pass a security guard having a small snack by the entrance of the cafeteria.

Not much people were hanging out in the cafeteria, as an hour after dismissal had already gone by. The foods displayed in the cases were limited now, and it was obvious that Sophie wanted to place her order before someone else swooped in and grabbed the few remaining burgers.

"Aren't you coming?" she called. She had just seen me plopping down on one of the chairs and heave a great sigh.

"Later," I promised as I set my Jansport on the table, but not before making sure the spot was soy sauce-free. "I just need to text Andrew." Sophie nodded in acknowledgement and continued her way to the food service area, a purple plastic wallet in hand.

After a few temple massages, I unzipped the front pocket of my backpack, shuffled through my belongings until I brushed the stiff leather that protected my Nokia.

Grinning slightly, I took it out, unlocked the phone, and searched for my brother's name in the contacts list. Although I am embarrassed to admit, I will be lying if I said I wasn't excited about having a phone. Since I was usually surrounded by my Hunters—mostly composed of demigods—I dared not to use gadgets, always preferring to use my the wolves for communication, or the occasional eagles.

**Alodia Mason:** **Hey, I'm in the GS cafeteria with Sophie. Do you want to meet us here or somewhere else?**

_Ping!_

**Andrew: So that's where u 2 went. we all thought u were gonna escape to atlanta or something. :p Elise is FURIOUS, by the way. **

My breath hitched as I read the text, but I forced myself to keep calm. Gods, what was wrong with me?

**Andrew: Oh, and i'll just go there myself. u think you can buy me something? i'll pay u, swear on the river styx! **

**Alodia Mason: Better keep that promise, brother. Who knows what may happen to you? **

**Andrew: Thanks, sis. ur always looking after my safety...**

** Alodia Mason: You're welcome. What do you want me to buy? **

**Andrew: Fries and that lychee fruit drink. i think they call it mogu-mogu. **

I shoved my phone back in its place with a roll of the eyes. After Sophie returned with a plate of burger and iced tea, I stood up and made my way over to the cashier. After paying for the two regular fries—one sweet corn for Apollo, one barbeque for me—, a strawberry-flavoured Mogu-Mogu, and a bottled water, I headed back to the table and placed the foods on the surface with a slight _slam_.

Sophie looked up in surprise, a piece of dry lettuce sticking out of her mouth. "Whoa, what happened?"

I regarded her expression with a startled face of my own. "Oh, sorry. I was... My mind was just occupied about something."

"About what?"

I shook my head slowly as I slid onto my seat. "Andrew told me that Elise was furious, which I expected, of course. I was thinking about the events in the gym, and that kind of had me angry." I paused momentarily as I gave my next question much thought. "Out of curiosity, what is the different of making a scene and making the scene?"

"Hmm..." Sophie jutted out her lower lip in thought. "Well, making _the _scene is having _the_ coolest clothes, attending _the_ best parties, hanging out with _the _most envied group. Basically being the 'it' girl. While making _a _scene is, well, what happened earlier in the gym."

I nodded my head in understanding. _So Elise is both an expert in making _a_ scene and making _the_ scene, huh? _

"Why're you asking?"

Shaking my head, I pulled out a fry from its container. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," I replied, trying to restrain a smile.

oo00oo

**THIRD PERSON'S POV**

Elise wasn't furious, at least not anymore. She was simply not pleased.

It was obvious by the way her darkened eyes were charged with such ferocity that it made people shrink back even though she wasn't looking at them. Her nostrils were flared ever so slightly, and the way she tapped a finger on waist was similar to the Morse code of _I will find you and kill you_.

"Here they are," Dominique awkwardly said.

The Elites turned, and to their relief, found the Samson's family driver and Amelia, Dominique's younger sister, walking towards them. As soon as they heard the familiar chirp that signalled them that the sleek black car was open, the Elites gladly piled in. Their eagerness to avoid standing with a displeased, freshly-insulted Elise in the middle of the school parking lot was too noticeable for the blonde, but she didn't say a word of it as she slid into the available spot beside Brittain.

The engine purred to life, and the driver hit the gas. There were a lot of things going on in her mind right now, and she decided to take advantage of the quietness to _think_. And by think, mentally insult Sophie and her new-found partner in crime, Alodia.

How dare they offend her like that in public? Sure, a lot of people had stood up to her and her friends in the past years, but never had she been compared to a freaking mosquito! And what was worse was that she had been compared to a mosquito in front of the boys' and girls' basketball teams—

"Dominique, guess what?" And just like that, Amelia's shrill, fourth grade voice managed to pierce through Elise's thoughts. "Sandy started a cleek and called it 'The Populars.' It's just like yours, right?"

"It's clique, not cleek,"

"And I believe that Sandy's clique—whoever she may be—is definitely not like ours. Not by a long shot," Brittain added.

Amelia dismissed the correction with a shake of her head. "You think I can join it? I really want to, but I just _hatehatehate_ Sandy! She is so annoying and loud. I bet nobody's gonna join her cleek."

"How can she start a group without any members?" Ella wondered.

"Isabel Collins joined," Amelia pointed out.

"Why would you join her if you don't like her?" Dominique asked. Upon hearing this, Mackenzie let out a snort. In response, Dominique shot her a look, glancing at Elise to check if she noticed. Amelia watched the exchange with interest.

Yep, now Elise couldn't think straight. Gosh, she really hated having to ride with Dominique. It was usually Elise's driver that drove them to and from school, but Ronald was out sick and so Dominique had volunteered for her driver to drop them off in their respective houses. If Elise only remembered how annoying Amelia sounded, she never would've agreed.

"You okay?" Ella, who was sitting to Elise's left, asked. Her dark eyebrows were knitted with concern.

"How can I be okay when my being has been compared to a mosquito?" So maybe she was overreacting, but how would you react if someone mistook you for an insect?

Brittain overheard the conversation and leaned in to whisper, "Don't worry, we'll get her."

"But it wouldn't be easy, right?"

Elise's jaws tightened involuntarily. What exactly did Ella mean by "it wouldn't be easy"? And how come the comment made Elise's nerves jump? Could it be she was scared of what Alodia could do to her? The thought of it made her even more jumpy. No, that couldn't be right. Why would Elise, out of people, be scared of Alodia?

"Who cares," Elise murmured, trying to keep her anger in check. "When we're done with her, she's gonna regret transferring here."

If Alodia wants to make a scene, then so be it. She didn't care how many scenes they would cause as long as she's taught a lesson.

Nobody messes with the Elites.

Nobody.

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><p><strong>NO: <strong>I get your point, but I am basing Artemis's hard time in Math when adults tend to forget what they learned during their childhood. But don't worry, just because Artemis failed in one test doesn't mean she's gonna fail in the others. ;)  
><strong>Kayla: <strong>Sorry, but I didn't quite understand your review. If you're still reading this, maybe you can re-write your review so I can read it again?

Well, that went really... unplanned. ;_; And I really wanted this chapter to be good as it's been two years since publication. Guess this means I have to go through major editing tomorrow.


	12. That Awkward Moment

12th chapter- enjoy!

Psst, guess what? We've reached _111 reviews_! Thanks so much. It felt good to wake up and see your wonderful comments. It's such an achievement to get this much support! ^_^

A big, glittery thanks to **Thalia Ginny C, Cupcake girl282, **_Guest 2_,** MSPJO22, Hope-Hikari, miramisa90212, **_Guest 3,_** fandomhospitalizedpatient, **_Guest 5, _**Otakugirl 13,** and _Celeste Vesper _for reviewing. May the gods be ever in your favor!

Thanks for the Favorites and Alerts! :3

Sadly, I do not own PJO but I do own my OCs. :):

* * *

><p>That Awkward Moment<p>

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

"How were you able to make a rainbow in here?" Apollo asked, settling on the couch with a cherry Coke in hand. He was always drinking that in the suite so I assumed it's his favorite drink. I wondered if he ever got tired of drinking the same thing, much like how I was exhausted of all the verbal abuse I've been put through, courtesy of Elise and her little minions. It would be nice to get a break from it and just say _"Aaah!"_ in satisfaction.

"Science, brother dear," I replied, motioning to the rays of sunlight passing through the windows. The miniature rainbow started to crackle with static, and I turned to it expectantly. "Now hush. She's almost on."

"Who are you—"

"Lady Artemis, such a surprise to hear from you," a soft, kindly voice greeted us as the screen cleared to reveal the pale face of Hecate. "Is there anything I can do to be of help, assuming you are in some sort of trouble?"

Apollo's mouth popped open. "Her? You called _her_?"

"Is that a problem, Lord Apollo?" Hecate questioned, her eyebrows raised. "Unless I am disturbing your... ah, prank planning?"

"Oh, don't mind him," I advised. "He's just... he wasn't expecting it, that's all."

Apollo gulped in agreement.

"So I see," Hecate mumbled after moments of silence. "I wasn't expecting to get an Iris Message, either."

"Really?" I asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Under the circumstances I'm at, yes," Hecate replied, her attention returning to me. "And to get a call from you is something surprising, especially with me helping Zeus carry out your punishment."

I stared at her. Hecate was a rather complicated goddess. For one thing, she's also a Titan, which explains our trust issues with her. Then during the Second Titan War she sided with Kronos, only to find out that her reason for doing so was that nobody respected her and her children enough. Now, from what I've heard, she already gave up her grudge against us Olympians, but was still in some sort of self-exile. Hecate has always been a lover of solitude, so it's hard for us to determine her true nature. Back in the day, I used to think of her as an enigma. She still is, actually.

"Well, you were just doing your job," I finally responded, ignoring the snickering sounds coming from Apollo. No use for Hecate to know how much I was annoyed with the potion she created that momentarily took our godly powers. "Speaking of which, I IM'ed you to ask about the potion you made for us."

"Are you experiencing side effects? Is your forehead hurting? How about your brother, does he also feel unwell?" Hecate asked, dark eyes wide with worry. If it was real or not, I could not tell.

I blinked. It was odd for her to be this frantic about our health. Maybe she thought if something happened to us, magic-wise, she'd be the one to blame. And nobody wants to see Zeus angry. "Uh, no. Not really. Why?"

"Oh, nothing at all," Hecate dismissed the question with a wave of her hand. "I was just assuming..." She shook her head, muttering unclear words. "Never mind. What were you saying?"

"Right." I shifted uncomfortably, unsure how to say my words without making myself sound like a desperate fool. "Well, you see, I was wondering if it's possible to be able create a potion to curse someone... for the lack of a better word."

Hecate scoffed, looking slightly hurt. "Being the goddess of magic that is the most ridiculous question I've heard in millennia! Of course, there was that one time when one of Clytius's idiotic comrades thought it would be a good idea to ask whether or not the fire in my torches was real. I took the pleasure of lighting him up to help him figure out if they were real or not." She chuckled at the memory, and I forced a weak smile. "Anyway, to answer your question, yes, I will be able to accomplish that in no time. Now what kind of curse are we talking about? Something akin to the _arai_? Or perhaps—"

"Not something that would kill!" I protested, blanching at the thought of Elise suffering a tragic death. As much as I despised the girl, I didn't want her to lose her life. I just wanted to teach her a lesson. "This is for a mortal. I'm hoping for something simpler and less deadly."

Realization slowly dawned on Hecate's face. "Oh. I thought it would be for Apollo. My apologies," I snorted a little and she shot me a strained grin. "You did say 'curse' so I guessed you meant something terrible."

"I was thinking more of like a pimple curse,"

"A _pimple curse_?" She almost choked on her words. "Tell me, is this for a classmate?"

"Yeah," I replied distractedly. What kind of curse would make Elise _really_ freak out? "I think it's something she'd be scared of."

"Mortals are such odd beings," Hecate commented.

"Tell me about it."

"But I'll see what I can do," she assured me. "Something shallow and not deadly, correct?"

I nodded, slightly surprised. "You're actually going to help?"

"Why not?" Hecate lifted her shoulders into a delicate shrug. "Even if I don't know the circumstances that have forced you to ask for my need, it's something that would prove to be fun."

"Thank you," I breathed. I had been prepared to offer her some kind of amount—an amount I currently didn't have—for her to help. It was a relief she agreed willingly.

Hecate smirked. "I have this feeling someone insulted you greatly and her consequence will definitely be—"

A loud crash filled the screen with static, quickly followed by a panicked _cluck_.

"What the heck?" Apollo complained. When I turned, I saw him pressing the volume button of the remote as he stared intently at the TV screen. "Can you keep it down there?"

"Sorry," I called, returning to Hecate. "Is everything alright?"

_"Di Immortales!" _Hecate cursed, completely ignoring my question. Her back was facing me, too focused on the noise to respond. "Pedro, I told you to be careful! Gale and Hecuba are much more attentive than you!"

"You... You have a visitor?"

Hecate looked back at me, her lips set into a tight line. "Something similar to that." Moments later, a blur of red and orange-brown blocked my view and Hecate hastily pulled it back. I gaped at the rooster in front me. It was an unusually fat rooster with a mix of red, orange-brown, and cream. But what was really unusual were its eyes—or rather, its _lack_ of two eyes.

"Artemis," she said wryly, "meet Pedro the Cyclops-turned-rooster. Pedro, Lady Artemis."

Pedro squawked wildly, desperately trying to peck the screen.

"Uh, hello. How come you were turned into a rooster?" This was directed to him, but I was looking at Hecate only.

The goddess finally released the rooster, and we both watched as he ran around in circles in the background before she explained, "Pedro came to me asking for a cure for his eyesight problem—"

"He was blind?" I interrupted, unsure whether to pity him or laugh at his misfortune.

"He still is," Hecate corrected. "Some demigod stumbled upon him and poked his eye. Anyway, I felt obliged to do because of his sad situation, but, ah, something went wrong with the procedure and now..." She sheepishly motioned to the rooster, who clucked back in response, his blind eye wide.

"Oh," was all I could say. After all, it was odd for a powerful goddess to admit her fault, especially to another goddess.

She nodded her head, narrowing her eyes into dangerous slits. "If a word of this ever gets out, I know who'd take the blame," she threatened.

"Of course." I glanced at Apollo to check if he was listening to our conversation. He was still focused on the TV.

"Good," the peaceful smile returned to her face. "I will contact you once I have an idea for your little curse," she added as if nothing happened.

"Same here," I replied. "Thank you again, Hecate."

"My pleasure,"

With that, she snapped her fingers and the rainbow dissolved into multi-colored glitter. I sighed irritably. Well, that's going to leave a mess.

Shaking the glitter out of my hair, I made my way over to my brother and lounged beside him on the couch. Now all I needed to do was wait.

"You done with Hecate?"

"Yeah. It went better than I expected,"

Apollo turned to look at me and started laughing. "Man, you look like you've been partying with Ke$ha!"

I rolled my eyes, wondering if it was too late to ask Hecate to make another curse for my brother.

oo00oo

**APOLLO'S POV**

I splashed my face with cold water, peering into the mirror. It was just the start of the day and it was already getting weird.

I had excused myself from class in order to go to the bathroom. Number one, I badly needed to pee. Seriously, how lame would it be if you peed in your pants? A middle school cliché at its finest. Number two, I've been getting uncomfortable stares from Elise.

As an expert flirt, I'm pretty sure I would know when a fellow flirt would be making moves on me. And those stares were something I had used myself back in the day (only in a less obvious, desperate way).

It didn't start from there, either. Even before classes begun, Elise was already clingy. I didn't know what incited her sudden interest with me, but I didn't reciprocate her feelings. If ever she really has one.

For all I care, this might be some sort of diabolical plot to lure me to the dark side. Only instead of cookies, there are five pretty girls waiting for me—namely, the Elites. Maybe it was a divide and conquer kind of thing? Perhaps Elise thought that if she convinced me to side with her, Artemis would lose it. I know Artemis, though. She'll be able to handle herself, especially against a mortal. And after that conversation she had with Hecate, she might have something up her sleeve.

Still. It was so awkward having Elise flirt with me. She and I aren't that close, but we were (sort of) friends. We talked. I tutored her in Science. But that was it.

I shook those thoughts out of my head. It won't do any good for my mental health if kept thinking about them. I swiped my bangs to the side and smiled at the mirror, making sure I looked presentable before I headed back to the classroom.

When I entered the room, I spotted my sister talking to our adviser. Once Artemis took a seat, I curiously twisted around my chair and asked, "What was that about?"

"We're having our ID picture taken tomorrow," she informed me.

"Uh-huh," I mumbled, uninterested. We'd be here for just a few months. What was the point of getting an ID?

After a quick goodbye from our teacher, I noticed Elise stand up from the corner of my eye. Already knowing what she was going to do, I pretended to take part of the conversation Rick was having with his friend.

"Hey," she said, tapping me lightly on the shoulder.

I heaved a sigh before turning to face her. "What's up?"

"You're still up for tutoring me, right?"

"Of course," I assured her. "But I might be a little late 'cause Alodia and I still have to get our pictures taken."

"Oh, no worries!" She exclaimed. "As long as you show up in the library, it's okay. And don't worry about your picture. I'm sure it'll turn out great." Elise shot me a sweet smile, glared over my shoulder, and then walked back to her chair.

From behind me, I could feel Artemis's stare burning my back. Inwardly groaning, I massaged my temples. For the first time ever, I didn't want to be the object of attention of two girls.

* * *

><p>Was it just me or did anyone else think that Hecate was some kind of scary witch before <em>Demigod Diaries <em>came out? Also, I'll be editing the previous chapters of this story. I'm not changing anything major, I just thought that you guys might want to see the improvement once the next chapter gets out soon.

Any comments, suggestions, or violent reactions? If so, you know what to do.


	13. With Love

13th chapter- enjoy!

It took me a long time to update, I know. I've been busy and distracted, but since it's summer I'm hoping to find more time to update. That's a cue for a _Yay_, I suppose? ;)

Thanks to **123padfoot123, **_Guest, _**miramisa90212, **and _Natalie _for reviewing. Thank you also to **Leafninja667 **and **TheGreekGoddessHestia** for their sweet PMs. They mean a lot. Stay loving and keep on reading!

Thank you for the Favorites and Alerts. :3

Sadly, I do not own PJO but I do own my OCs. :):

* * *

><p>With Love<p>

**APOLLO'S POV**

"I-Ier... The first two months end with an -ier. Uh... Javier—_janvier_?" I mumbled, allowing myself a quick peek at the sheet of paper in front of me before shutting my eyes close. "Yeah, _janvier_._ janvier, février_..." Eyes still closed, I nodded my head in satisfaction. It looked like I was getting a hang of this. Sort of. "_mars_—easy to remember—and April is… uh, April is—is what? I know this; it's in the tip of my tongue!" I scrunched my face in concentration but nothing came up.

Frustrated, I finally opened my eyes, giving up. "Why can't I even remember what April"—I scanned the paper—"_avril_ is? Avril, like the singer." I sighed, massaging my temples. Trying to remember all these vocabulary words was giving me a massive headache. Hills should've widened their language class options, rather than making us choose between Spanish or French. Greek would be a nice addition; I'd ace it, for sure. Maybe even Latin.

My stomach growled in hunger and I found myself yawning too. _Just a few more minutes... _I grabbed the French vocabulary sheet and as I studied the French words for the months, I reached for the plastic box holding my cookies. I patted it continuously, only to feel its oily texture.

Almost automatically, I stood up and brought the paper and the empty box with me. My head was still aching, only it was more out of annoyance rather than tiredness.

"Artemis!"

"Yes?"

I came out of the room and plopped down on one of the chairs in the dining area. I glanced briefly at the TV before resting my head on the table's smooth, cold surface. The way Artemis was switching the channels so fast didn't help reduce the pounding in my head.

"Arty," I whined, "I'm hungry."

She didn't respond.

I lifted my head slightly and saw Artemis was still focused on channel surfing to actually notice anything else. I stared at her back for a moment. My sister was actually busy watching TV rather than freaking out on me.

Huh. Well, this is a first.

And then, as if remembering she had a brother to attend to, I heard her ask, "What about the cookies I gave you?"

"What _else_ do you think happened to them, sis?" I laughed good-naturedly.

She snorted, but didn't say anything. For several seconds, she continued to press on the remote, keeping her eyes only on the screen. She finally settled on Nickelodeon, and the moment _Sam & Cat _returned from their commercial break, she turned to face me.

"All that, and you finished them _already_?" Artemis had an incredulous look on, but her voice was pure teasing.

I shrugged. "What do you expect from me?"

"Not much, really," came the honest and serious reply. She then stood up and made her way over to me, her sandals quietly hitting the floor as she did. In her knit sweater and simple, black leggings she looked like a regular middle-schooler. But the intense fire in her amber eyes proved that she had more life experiences than an average twelve-year-old. Way, _way_ more.

"Is there anything the ref?" I asked, watching her pull the chair beside me and sit on it.

"Drinks," she replied, her eyes fixed on my sheet of paper.

"Ugghh...!" I groaned. "But I'm _so _hungry." I banged my head against the table, only to quickly straighten up. "Great. Now my _tête _hurts even more."

She gave me an amused glance. "Eat the paper, why don't you? Maybe that'll satisfy your hunger and quench your thirst for French knowledge."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny, Artemis," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Alright, how about room service, then?" Without even waiting for my answer—which is a big, fat yes, by the way—she walked towards our room to get the menu. She returned immediately and handed me the elegantly designed menu as she sat back down.

"Thanks," I said gratefully, hungrily pouring over the menu. Artemis leaned close, reading. Ah, so many choices. What to do, what to do? "Okay, so maybe a BLT and—ooh! Look at their alcohol, Arty. I don't want anything French, though. I've had enough of _that_."

"You're joking, right?" My sister sent me one of her famous you're-out-of-your-mind looks. She usually used it on men mistakenly asking her out, which is usually followed by either her I'm-_so_-going-to-turn-you-into-a-deer look or her actually turning the poor guy into a deer. Most of the time, both.

"Oh, right," I gave her a sheepish smile. "Man, the French stuff is really getting to me."

Artemis had a thoughtful expression on as she stared at me. "You're really studying, aren't you?"

"Yeah, well, the teacher's really hot, so..."

Artemis shot me a warning glare. _"Apollo..."_

"My gods, relax!" I exclaimed, chuckling at her reaction. "I was just joking. My teacher's a _guy_, Monsieur Vergult."

She pushed her chair back and stood, shaking her head. "Of course." She didn't seem convinced. "I'll just go and call them now, okay?"

I pushed the vocab sheet away from me, trying to tune out the high-pitched whine of Ariana Grande's character, Cat, and the muffled conversation coming from the bedroom.

It was impossible, though. Cat kept complaining about the rapper that made fun of her hat that has _HAT _on it, and Artemis's voice grew louder as she argued with the staff on the phone.

"No, I didn't say—" Artemis abruptly stopped as she listened to the person at the other end of the line, and I could almost imagine her: eyes narrowed, hand on a hip, foot tapping impatiently. "_Sir?_ I am _not_ a sir!"

I lost it. I let out bursts of laughter, snorts coming out occasionally. That was probably the most favorite thing I heard her say!

Several seconds later, just as I was finally calming down, Artemis emerged from our bedroom. "Such incompetent men!" she grumbled.

An unmanly giggled escaped me as I wiped an imaginary tear with my hand and patted my sister with the other.

"Oh, please," she waved my hand away and shifted in her seat. "Let's see who'll be laughing once the result of your test comes out."

"You're not even taking French! You're in Spanish," I protested.

"Details, details," she snipped.

I'd tried to convince her to take French with me, but she couldn't get past the fact it was the language of love... Although she could still be haunted by _that _experience in France. Hilariously embarrassing, but that's a story for another time. In the end I backed down because we weren't a thousand years old anymore, which meant we didn't have to do anything together. Besides, Elise is in that class and I'm afraid I won't be able to handle another one of their snarky exchanges. Still, it would've been nice if we were in the same language class. After all, wasn't that the main goal of this punishment—to learn how to cooperate with each other?

"Why don't I review you?" Her voice broke me out of my thoughts, and when I looked at her, my vocab sheet was already in her hands.

"How about no. I came here for a break, not for another review session," I took back the paper and stuck it in between the menu's pages. "Why don't _you _review? Doesn't your teacher give you tests?"

Artemis crossed her arms. "I already did. _Y yo voy a hacer muy bien._"

"Alright then, since you're so confident."

We sat in silence, watching in amusement as Sam and Cat fought over the new partner the redhead hired.

"That girl's voice is so high. Is it really like that?"

"Eh, not really," I said. "But Grande's pretty, don't you think? And she sings well, kind of like Mariah Carey. I wouldn't be surprised if she turns out to be my child."

"Well, I'm not surprised you can't keep track of children." Artemis rolled her eyes. "Do you think she's annoyed by the sound of her own voice? I know I am."

"If I wanted to listen to a high-pitched woman, I'd still be dating Kim Kardashian," I told her. "And contrary to what Ray J claims, _I _was the one who hit it first, just so you know."

_"Ah-pooo-llooo,"_ groaned Artemis, somehow making my name sound more than three syllables. "How many times do I have to tell you I am not the right person for this?"

I grinned, winking teasingly. "Oh, I don't know… Maybe a billion times, maybe more. You know it's not going to stop me."

"You're impossible,"

"One of the million reasons why you _love_ me."

Artemis laughed dryly and chucked the menu right at my head. Retaliating, I reached out and tugged at her braid, knowing how much she hated that.

Times like this I'm thankful for the punishment. It feels good to just have fun with my sister and act young again.

oo00oo

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

I stared blankly at the dusty chalkboard, caressing the back of my head in comfort. Everyone else around me either crammed a study session or aimlessly chatted. It seemed that everyone was in attendance and the only one missing was the teacher. Not that it bothered anyone.

My head was swimming Spanish words and I would give _anything _to be in the wild again, hunting down monsters and rogue gods rather than trying to hunt down whoever was responsible for hitting my head with a compact mirror. It all added up to a headache, and class hasn't even started yet. Now I knew how Apollo felt yesterday.

It would either be fun or tiresome if Apollo were here, but nevertheless more interesting. He didn't want to take this class because he was already fluent in Spanish, thanks to the short time he'd been a DJ in Pacha Madrid. He had invited me to join him in French, and I obviously said no. Thank the gods for _that_ decision. Elise is apparently in that class and I don't think I can stand having to exchange words with her. Anyway, we weren't a thousand years old anymore, and we didn't have to hold hands and do everything together. Still, it's such a pity. It could've been my chance to show Zeus how we cooperated well in other activities aside from murder.

The door slammed open. I turned my head to the source and eyed Señorita Gonzales walk up to her table. She was an imposing woman with a knack for scaring the life out her students. As she passed by the seats, everyone quieted down and watched as she approached the desk. Today seemed to be an extra-special day since someone had place a Coke on her desk. The soft drink was the equivalent of an apple for the Spaniard, and usually softened up whenever anyone offered her one. I guess someone wasn't prepared for today's test and thought the drink would help pull up his chances.

She settled the pile of paper she was carrying into a corner—the test, no doubt—before her scrutinizing green eyes zeroed in on the bottled drink of sugary goodness. Señorita Gonzales smiled in pleasant surprise. She took the bottle and read the damp note stuck to it, leaning against the table. Suddenly, she shot her smile at my direction.

Everyone automatically started buzzing, wondering to whom the smile was for. Some glanced at me curiously, and out of instinct, I turned to briefly look at my seatmate even if I was sure that grin was meant for me. And that's what I didn't understand. I didn't need to kiss the teacher's butt—I'm doing fine in her class, thank you very much—and I definitely won't be doing something like this to help my classmates. This was my_ Huh?_ moment of the day. (So now I know what Aphrodite feels like whenever something she considers tragic becomes a trend.)

The teacher's smile was still intact as she unscrewed the cap. "Ah, just what I need—"

_FWOOSH! _

We all watched in awed horror as the Coke bottle exploded, spraying the students in the first row and—worst of all—Señorita Gonzales with its sticky liquid. The class was silent for a few minutes, save for a few gasps and giggles.

The teacher's mouth was agape as she removed her glasses and dropped it on the test papers; they too were drenched.

"Oh my gods…" I muttered, wiping the liquid trickling down my neck.

"Señorita Mason," she called, trying to keep the shakiness in her voice in check. "May I please speak to you for a moment?"

My mouth popped open and close and it took me a while to make my legs work. Even I was not spared from the mess. I could hear what was left in the Coke bottle making _plink-plink _sounds as the contents splashed on the floor while I made my way over to the teacher's desk. I looked straight ahead, willing myself not to panic at the effect of the explosion. It looked like someone had a water balloon fight of sorts in the room with the way the Coke splattered against the furniture and people, and it hit me that thee computer could've been damaged. Was the school going to make me pay for it?

I stopped in front of Señorita Gonzales and stared deep into her eyes. They burned with the color of Greek fire.

_"¿Sí?_"

"You have given me such a lovely surprise, Señorita Mason," she began, rolling her _R_s like an angry tiger roaring.

"No, it wasn't—"

"In fact, it was so lovely that I think you should go to the Principal's Office and tell it to her. _Now_."

I shook my head defiantly. "No, you don't understand..." My voice faltered slightly, and it wasn't because of the dead-on Zeus glare she was giving me. Just then, my eyes landed on the note still attached to the Coke bottle. The previously bleach-white paper was now brown, but the printed words were still readable: _A Coke a day keeps the quizzes away. -Alodia Mason_

For a split second, I thought I was going to turn into my true form and burn everyone else to death. My chest rose and fell rhythmically as I took calming breaths. "It's not... I wasn't the one..." I finally clammed up. No, I wasn't going to make a scene here. My arguing with the teacher would be in vain and I don't want to risk any more embarrassment. No, I'll just go to Mrs. Bourke and explain to her what happened. I'm sure she'll understand.

I obediently nodded my head before slowly exiting the classroom, careful not to slip on the wet floor. Somehow, I still managed to hold my head high. As I paused to get my bag, my eyes swept over the faces of my classmates. Their expressions were a mixture of nervousness, surprise, and joy. And no one looked as joyous as a familiar platinum blonde smiling triumphantly—one of Elise's friends, an Elite.

_"¡Rápido!" _

That was enough for me to pick up the pace and leave the room, gently closing the door as I could.

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><p><strong>Guest: <strong>Does this answer your question? ;)

The part of Artemis is based on a chapter from the book _Accidentally Fabulous_. And before I forget, go check out my community, The Best of PJO. If you want to become a staff, just PM me.

Any comments, suggestions, or violent reactions? If so, you know what to do.


	14. Say Cheese

14th chapter- enjoy!

Thanks to **ro781727, leafninja667,** **Trump Card of the Show,** **SilverllWords, **_Guest_, **SheradeAem, WeTheTreatys, **and **thatgeekygirloverthere** for the reviews. Stay loving and keep on reading!

Thanks for the Favorites and Alerts. :3

Sadly, I do not own PJO but I do own my OCs. :):

* * *

><p>Say Cheese<p>

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

_"Di Immortales," _I cursed as I threw the damp tissue into the waste bin.

I'd hurried to the lady's room to repair the damage done by the Coke explosion. Thankfully, there wasn't that much.

My sweater was covered in cola-colored splatters, but I didn't need to do any serious thinking to figure out how to solve that problem. My jeans, although now uncomfortably stiff, had camouflaged the stain with its dark color. What really bothered me was my hair. Minutes earlier it had been dripping wet but it was now drying up into a sticky, frizzy mess.

I quickly ran through my hair with water and fished out an elastic from my bag. I pulled my hair into a bun, and even if it was messier than what I would've liked, it was more or less under control. Anyway, I've seen girls sporting the same hair do, even Elise.

_Elise._

At the thought of her name, I pulled down the bun and threw my hair into a ponytail instead.

_That girl better hide her Starbucks before I contaminate it with gorgon's blood._

I looked at the mirror, my own angry reflection staring back at me.

Could I be right? Was Elise the person behind this?

Numerous possibilities ran through my head. Maybe I overanalyzed the blonde's—Dominique, I think—face. What if she was just excited to see me in trouble? There was also the chance that Elise might not know about it, that Dominique planned the prank all by herself. It could also be someone else other than an Elite. Either way, I was still framed—and my number one suspect was the Elites.

Exhaling, I wet my face, determined to meet Mrs. Bourke calm and fresh-faced. As much as I would like to use the Mist on her, Hecate's magic left me with a small, weak portion of my powers and I am not willing to look like a fool in front of the principal as I wave my hands around, trying to summon the Mist.

Smoothing the wrinkles out of my sleeveless blouse, I pulled in a deep, calming breath and headed out the door. I took my time going to the principal's office, thinking long and hard of what I'm supposed to say to Mrs. Bourke. It wasn't like I could immediately pin the blame on Elise even if I had a feeling of her guiltiness. If I bring her up, Mrs. Bourke might call her down to the office and the brat could easily spin a web of lies because I didn't have any concrete proof.

I didn't hesitate to open the door when I arrived in front of the principal's office. The assistant wasn't in her usual spot, so I came into the waiting room and knocked three times on the other door and poked my head in. "Mrs. Bourke?"

The woman looked up from her phone and gestured towards the chair in front of her desk. "Alodia, hello! Have a seat."

I did what I was told, trying to get comfortable on the chair as I gave her the most pleasant smile I got.

Mrs. Bourke leaned forward, her lips pursed in concern. "You don't look well. Do you feel sick?" My smile most likely made her guess that I was experiencing diarrhea.

"Don't worry, I'm alright," I replied, briefly studying my reflection in her shiny nameplate. My face was flushed red and sweat was slowly trickling down the side of my face. Mrs. Bourke probably thought I was nervous. But I wasn't. I was just frustrated and angry, ready to explode like Mt. Vesuvius—and whenever one feels that way, especially a god, it was always never a good sign.

"Good. So we can begin." Mrs. Bourke placed her phone aside and raised her eyebrows at me appraisingly. "Your teacher already told me the details of the… _unfortunate_ incident. Now, tell me, what _exactly_ made you want to prank a teacher like Nadia."

I opened my mouth to speak, but she plowed on. Gone was the jovial principal I met a few weeks back. Instead, she was replaced by a somber version of her. It was better than a raging beast, I know, but her calm demeanor bothered me. It was obvious she was disappointed with what she _thought _I had done.

"Nadia probably isn't everyone's favorite teacher, and this might even surprise you, but... your teacher has a _wonderful_ record here in this school," she continued, glancing at me to see my reaction. I remained stoic. "I know that Nadia can be strict in her ways but that doesn't give you the permission to fool with her!"

Mrs. Bourke was then silent and I took that as a cue to speak. I cleared my throat. "Yes, well, I truly am sorry for what happened to Señorita Gonzales, but I wasn't the one who did it." I glanced at Mrs. Bourke. Her lips were pursed—she was clearly not impressed. "I know it sounds fishy, but it's the truth. I wouldn't dare do that to someone."

"Mm-hmm, yes, of course. But are you forgetting the fact that your name was printed on that slip of paper?"

"_Anyone _could've done it,"

Mrs. Bourke frowned. "Are you saying that someone framed you?"

"Yes!" I was almost shouting, exasperated.

She leaned back and sighed, massaging the back of her neck. "I admit that I was a bit surprised when Nadia told me the story; you don't seem like the type. However, how can I be sure you aren't lying?"

"I'm sorry... what?"

The PA system rang, announcing the start of lunch, and I thought of how somewhere in the school's halls, a student was running free when he should be in my place.

Mrs. Bourke sighed again, her brows furrowing in annoyance. It seemed to me that she didn't enjoy this part of the job. "I can't just take your word for it and let you off the hook. We still need to investigate to find out who really is guilty—if what you're saying _is_ true."

"But it is!" I burst out. Ignoring the look she gave me, I went on to say, "I know you won't believe what I have to say, but it wasn't me! I didn't even—"

"Then why would someone frame you?" Mrs. Bourke interrupted. "Better yet, do you even know who would?"

"I..." My mind reeled. Could I tell her? _Yes. _Should I tell her? That I did not know. She mentioned an investigation, but would they be able to easily conduct one? What were they going to do, anyway? Search that piece of paper for fingerprints? How useful would my powers be for this kind of situation.

"You don't have a name," she almost sounded sad to say it.

"Name or no name, you should trust me! I know I've done nothing and I know someone framed me."

Mrs. Bourke didn't do anything for the first few seconds, debating whether or not to believe me. She suddenly shook her head before tearing a pink piece of paper from a pad. She scribbled something on it and handed it to me. "Two weeks," she announced.

"Two weeks?" I repeated, looking down at the slip of paper. It was a detention slip.

"Why, would you like me to extend it?"

"No, no. This… This is alright." I was surprised. Despite me efforts, I was still going to detention, but only for two weeks. I thought I would get at least a month.

"You start today," Mrs. Bourke said as I begun to leave. "Make sure to have that paper signed at the end of each session by the teacher, so we know for sure you went."

"Yes, ma'am," I muttered.

"Oh, and Alodia? It would be nice if you cooperated once the investigation starts. I've let you off easy, but if I find out you were lying, you'd be in a lot more trouble. Lying has serious consequences."

I crumpled the piece of paper in my fist. "I understand."

oo00oo

**ARTEMIS'S POV**

"Sorry I'm late," I said as I burst through the door.

Apollo looked up from his place, a grin on his otherwise bored-looking face. He removed the earphones from his ears and patted the space beside him. "Don't worry, I just arrived myself. I'm already done, though. I'm just waiting for you." I gratefully sat down and stretched my legs. "What's up?" he asked, studying my red face. "I thought we were going to wait in front of the classroom then go together."

"Well," I said bitterly, "I was forced to change my plans."

Apollo laughed. "Did a boy corner you on your way out? Did he ask if he could escort you?"

I huffed. "No, I got detention."

"What? _Why?_"

"Alodia Mason?" a stout man called. He was standing beside a camera on a tripod. He looked at me. "Are you Alodia Mason? We need ya."

"I'll tell you later," I replied, making my way over to him.

"What?" Apollo demanded, not ready to let this go easily. "And what happened to your hair? It's all frizzy and stuff."

"Hi," I said as pleasantly as I could to the yawning cameraman. "I'm Alodia."

"Okay. So you're finally here. Can you stand over there?" He pointed at a platform with a white background. I did as what I was told, patting my head. I could feel some hair strands sticking out. "You ready?"

"Yes,"

The man nodded. "One, two, three... Smile!"

The flash went off and I stumbled back, blinking. He took two more pictures then checked the screen of his camera then back at me. "Are you sure you don't want to fix yourself first? Your hair's pretty messy, no offense. I'll give you a minute. Sounds good?"

I sighed. I pulled my hair out of the ponytail and combed through it before pulling it back up again. There was nothing else I could do.

Right after I was let go by the man, Apollo was already onto my case. "Not now," I said, before he could even open his mouth. "I'll tell you when we're in the cafeteria."

Apollo frowned, a hint of sympathy present. "Arguing with Mrs. Bourke made you hungry, huh?" was all he could say.

"No, not really," I replied. I figured I needed a break before planning the next move.

oo00oo

**APOLLO'S POV**

"Yay, we're detention buddies!" Alisha cheered. She stretched out her arms before her, as if expecting some sort of air hug from Artemis.

Artemis smiled awkwardly, leaving Alisha's arms hanging. "Oh, you have detention too?"

Drawde shook his head. "That's not the point." Then he pointed his fork at Artemis, ignoring Alisha's pout. "You said _you _didn't do it? But _you _still got detention for it?"

"Yes. I was framed," Artemis confirmed for the hundredth time after she finished her story.

"On the bright, at least you only got two weeks," Drawde offered. "Mrs. Bourke must like you."

"But she still got detention for it! Whoever did it is mean," Hadley said simply.

"Do you know who did it?" Sophie asked.

"Well, I do have an idea..."

"Who?" Alisha asked eagerly.

Artemis looked around the table. Everyone seemed to be leaning in, curious to know something juicy about a schoolmate. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Elise," she finally confessed.

My eyebrows drew close, but I still muttered under my breath, "I should've known."

"Elise?!" Olivia echoed.

Drawde shook his head, pursing his lips. "Sometimes I forget that she's the same age as us."

"Aren't you gonna do anything?" Olive asked, her eyes wide. Like if she was in Artemis's place, she would go over to Elise's table to dump soup on her.

"You should give her a piece of your mind!" Sophie exclaimed, pointing out the obvious.

"Yeah," Alisha agreed. "Why didn't you tell Mrs. Bourke when you knew?"

"Wait." I gave Artemis a confused look. "She doesn't take Spanish, she's in French. She's with me, remember?" As much as I wanted to help Artemis with this, it didn't help that her details didn't add up.

Artemis sighed, scratching her head. "That's why it's just a hunch. She has her blonde friend in that class. There's a possibility that she told her friend to prank the teacher. Or maybe she just planned it all by herself."

"Blonde? You mean Dominique," Sophie nodded her head towards the direction of the Elite's table. "She's the smart one," she added. "Of course, every clique needs someone to strategize their revenge on people."

"It doesn't seem like her type of idea, though," Hadley said thoughtfully. Then she shot Artemis an apologetic look. "I mean, this is _probably _better than other ideas…"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Olive interrupted. "So are you gonna do anything?"

"I'm just waiting,"

"Waiting." Sophie repeated incredulously. "Waiting for what?"

"You know, to do something."

"For payback?" Artemis shrugged nonchalantly. "Ah, like a crocodile hunter lying in the weeds. Ooh, exciting!"

"Fighting fire with fire," Hadley mumbled. Drawde nodded.

"That is," Artemis suddenly said, "if Andrew doesn't mind."

"Me?" I gave her another confused look. "Why me?"

"It's because you're becoming so cozy with her,"

Alisha spat out her drink.

"Oh, come on," I protested. "She was… okay when I first met her and then she became too annoying…"

Sophie snorted. "Ha! She's always been too annoying," A look passed over Hadley's face and Sophie's eyes flitted to her before she chose to completely ignore it. I opened my moth to say something but I clamped it shut.

"Speaking of her, don't you have to go tutor her?"

"Yeah, well, thanks for reminding me."

"Good luck with that," Sophie muttered as I stood up and left.

My mind was reeling as I approached the Elites. My sister really thought that Elise, the girl whom I was _this close _to befriending and whom I am about to tutor, is the mastermind behind the childish, silly prank that humiliated Artemis.

Well. The middle school experience is never complete without the drama.

"Hey, Elise," I grinned my usual mega-watt grin.

The table suddenly grew quiet, and some of them shifted uncomfortably.

"Andrew! Is it time already?"

"What else am I here for?" I replied, shoving my hands in my pockets. But then I remembered that my pants only had one pocket, so my other arm hung there awkwardly.

Elise laughed. She turned to her friends who were staring at me. I caught the eye of the other blonde, Dominique, and she held her gaze, grinning in a friendly manner. I broke away from the stare. "See you later?" Elise asked, hiking up her bag higher on her shoulder.

"Of course!" They hollered.

"See you around," I told Elise's friends before leading her away to the library.

The trip to the library was short but full of conversation. That is if you consider one person doing all the talking as conversation. Elise babbled on and on about her problems with Science, and she didn't seem the least embarrassed about it. I just nodded and kept quiet, my mind focused on Artemis's detention problems.

Elise was acting normal, but that was probably because she's a good actress. She hasn't even mentioned the detention. Then again, why would she? Nobody knew about Artemis's detention, other than us. Unless, of course, she had something to do with it.

"So," she started, dumping her books on the table, "what was the noise about?"

"Noise?" I asked, picking up her book.

"It was noisy in your table," she explained then chuckled. "Was there, like, a rat?"

I momentarily stopped flipping through the book to look at her. "No. Alisha would jump if there was,"

"I bet,"

So Elise was already starting to show interest. Maybe she_ was_ behind the prank. Or maybe she wasn't. Just like my sister, I still had to be sure—there's no way I'd be risking embarrassment. But how will I be able to know? It's not like I can read minds, anyway.

And just like that, the beginnings of a plan formed in my head.

* * *

><p>Not my favorite chapter, to be honest... ;_; I had a hard time writing Apollo's part, so I might go back and edit it later on. By the way, I know many of you are about to starthas started their summer vacation, but it's quite the opposite for me as school will start soon. And as most of you know, I become an even... later updater when there's school. Of course, I'll always try my best to write and update. Hopefully you guys will be patient with the next update, as you always are. :)

Any comments, suggestions, or violent reactions? If so, you know what to do.


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